New England Clam Chowder

This recipe calls for diced bacon. Did you ever try to dice bacon? I have and it just slips and slides and never comes out really diced. So, here's a tip... use your kitchen shears! It does a great job of cutting the wiggly, slippery bacon up into a nice dice - and much quicker than trying to use a knife.

I like my Wusthof shears because they come apart... makes for easy cleaning, so I don't hesitate to use them for something like cutting up bacon.

I assembled the ingredients - bacon, onions, potatoes, minced clams and clam juice.

I also added a can of oysters, (just because we like them so much), but I didn't show you the oysters because they aren't in the recipe! I didn't want anybody to leave a comment like "Hey, there aren't any oysters in clam chowder!"

One more thing before I give you the recipe, which you must try! The recipe calls for 3 cups milk. You can make this as rich and creamy as you want (or not) by using 3 cups whole milk, or go with a mixture of 2 cups whole milk and 1 cup half-and-half. It's up to you and your waistline!

3 slices bacon, diced
1 c chopped onion
4 c diced potatoes
1 bottle (8 oz) clam juice
1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper
2 cans (7 oz) minced clams
3 T flour
3 c Milk

Cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels and drain. Add onion to bacon drippings; saute until softened. Add potatoes, clam juice, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat. Add minced clams with the liquid. Whisk flour into the milk and add to chowder. Add the cooked bacon. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chowder thickens and bubbles. Do not boil. Serves 4