Manhattan Clam Chowder

I had to go to the market today to get ingredients for dinner. My wife said she wanted clam chowder and she’s allergic to cow milk so Manhattan it is. I made sure I had a bag of clams, all the vegetables that I needed, some clam juice, and tomatoes. One thing I forgot, she specifically asked for oyster crackers. I wasn’t about to head out again so we made homemade oyster crackers as our fun addition. As usual for things like this, I go to Serious Eats. It has become my online Betty Crocker cookbook. Just follow the recipe (and double it, my wife had a few comments about that not being enough). Here’s how they turned out.

For the clam chowder

• Glug of olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 green pepper, finely diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 3 small sticks of celery, cut into 1/8 inch pieces
• 5 small Yukon gold potatoes, finely diced
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 cups clam juice
• 1 bag little neck clams, shucked making sure to get the juice
• Few sprigs of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper

Saute onion, pepper, garlic, and celery in olive oil until soft but not brown. Add tomato paste and cook for a couple minutes to bring out the flavor. Add herbs, potatoes, 1 C. water, and clam juice and saute for 10ish minutes until potatoes are soft. Add the tomatoes and clams with juice and simmer covered until everything has melded. Remove the herbs and season