Some times I’m amazed at how incredible my kids are. And I am very thankful both kids survived childhood. 🙂 As a home school mom that worked part-time, and cared for my disabled husband, their survival is even more remarkable.
Take my son, as example: he was the cutest little bug ever ____
___ grew into an incredible young man
____ with an amazing wife, and a super-fast motorcycle
One thing that he loves to do is eat, and clam chowder is one of his favourite dishes. When the kids were little, I often made clam chowder when we were short of time and HUGE on hunger and impatience.
The early version of clam chowder was basically opening a bunch of cans – not the healthiest meal in the world, but quick and tasty. Living far from home, that is the version our son continues to make on a regular basis.
Now that I don’t have antsy little kids, and have hopefully gained a little more control over my time, I have decided to make my own clam chowder from scratch. This way I can control the amount of sodium, quality of ingredients, and of course, make it gluten free. Here are some simple tips:
- Boiling potatoes in a separate pan prevents the soup from becoming too starchy. This does not take long when the potatoes are already cut into small pieces.
- Using roasted garlic keeps the soup mellow. If you only have fresh garlic on hand, cut the amount of garlic in half and cook it over very low heat for several minutes after the other veggies are tender. Then add the mushrooms, and sliced green onions.
- Deglazing the pan with white wine gets up any browned bits from the bottom, adding depth of flavour.
- Adding homemade cream of mushroom soup base is my preference. However, there are several brands of gluten free mushroom soup on the market now. Just be aware of the sodium content, and taste carefully before seasoning the chowder.
- Swapping out half&half for the heavy cream works, but the soup is far better with the richness of cream.
- Choosing any grated cheese will do, but our preference is a nice, smoky gouda.
This is seriously done – start to finish – in less than a half hour. Enjoy!
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Clam Chowder – Gluten Free
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Quick, easy, creamy, delicious
Ingredients
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, removed from stems
- 1 package shiitake mushrooms, chopped
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 6–8 cloves roasted garlic
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 1/2 cups cream of mushroom soup base, or a box/can of soup
- 2 cans clams with the juice
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup smoked gouda cheese, grated
Instructions
- Peel and dice the potatoes, then cook them in a small saucepan until tender.
- In a stock pot, sauté carrots and celery in olive oil for 5 minutes. Sprinkle black pepper over vegetables, stir, and allow pepper to toast for 1 minute.
- Add chopped mushrooms, roasted garlic, and green onions, and sauté for 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with white wine.
- Add in mushroom soup, clams with the juice, and chicken broth. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add cream and grated cheese, and heat only until cheese has melted – do not boil.
Notes
If using fresh garlic, cut the amount in half. Add it to the pan and sauté over low heat for several minutes before adding mushrooms.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
For the quick and easy version:
2 cans clams with liquid
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup heavy cream or half & half
1 cup grated cheese
Empty the soup and clams into a saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cream and cheese, heating only until the cheese is melted. Do not allow to boil again.
