New England-Style Clam Chowder

Makes 4 Generous Servings

Ingredients

• 3 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups diced celery root
• 1/2 tspn sea salt
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 4 (6.5 oz) cans chopped clams, with their juices
• 2 Tbspn. fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 3 Tbspn butter
• Sea salt & pepper, to taste

Directions
Cook bacon in a large pot over medium heat until browned, but not crispy.  Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add onion, celery ribs, and garlic; saute until vegetables are soft.  Stir in stock, celery root, and salt.  Cover and cook chowder until celery root is cooked but still firm. 

Add half-and-half, reserved bacon, clams (including juices), parsley, and butter; simmer for 3 more minutes.

Season to taste with salt & pepper.  Serve hot.

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MODIFICATIONS:

• I didn't have half & half, rather I had heavy cream.  Only had about 1.75 cups of this and made up for the difference by using extra low-sodium natural chicken stock.
• I didn't have celery root (this was too expensive and didn't look good in the store), so I used cauliflower instead.  I cut the flowers, then I sliced them thinly.  Saute them separately from the onions & celery. 
• Next time if I use heavy cream, I don't really think you need to add the butter.  It just makes it way too fattening.  It tastes pretty rich already. 
• If you want it creamier, you could take some of the cauliflower & maybe some chicken stock and puree this and pour this into the soup.  I did not do this as my kids and I prefer a brothier soup, rather than creamy.
• I used 3 cans of whole clams.  Like this much better than minced clams.  Got my cans of clams at Trader Joe's, but I bet it would taste really good with fresh clams.
• My kids and I did NOT miss the potatoes.  The cauliflower is still white and it still had a firm, slightly soft texture, which is somewhat similar to the potato without ANY starch, while lots of fiber.  Good deal!
• No salt was needed for this soup, as all the ingredients had plenty of flavor.
• This is a very kid-friendly dish and makes WAY more than 4 servings.  For my kids and I, this makes about 9 servings.