Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Dairy Free/Gluten Free New England Clam Chowder

        I'm sitting in the restaurant with my family gazing at the menu. My foodie heart sinks like the Titanic, as I realize the only thing I can have is a salad. I'm surrounded by beach decorations; driftwood, buoys, through the window I can see waves crashing against the sand. The perfect meal for this setting would be a bowl of clam chowder with saltine crackers. But no, cut out the crackers (I'm gluten free) and the clam chowder is also out of the question. The rich creamy soup is filled with lactose (I shudder at the word as I'm also lactose intolerant).
Has this ever happened to you? Well I'm glad to say I've finally found a delicious solution for my little dilemma. What do we do when the restaurants turn their back on us? We turn our backs on them and make the food ourselves!
Trust me folks this clam chowder is absolutely up to snuff. I originally got the recipe from foodnetwork.com  (great website!) and adapted it to make it free of lactose, dairy and gluten. If you think this recipe will disappoint you, it won't. A couple of notes before you begin.


1. Don't overcook your soup or the clams will give your soup a grayish tint. Just follow the recipe and you'll be fine.

2. The half n half gives the soup a more traditional cream color. The Almond milk on the other hand will make your soup gray tinted.
(I tried both milks and loved both results. The almond milk is definitely healthier, but the half n half looks prettier.)

3. Lastly you never want to rush yourself the first time you've tried a recipe. If this is your first time making clam chowder take your time and be thorough. (I have tried rushing recipes I've never tried before and believe me it does not work out.)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or butter substitute if your dairy free)
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 celery stalks (reserve tender leaves) trimmed, quartered lengthwise, then sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons Key Gluten Free Flour (or other all purpose gluten free flour)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 (10-ounce) cans chopped clams in juice
1 cup Almond Milk or Lactose Free Half an Half
2 bay leaves
1 pound potatoes, cut into 1/2- inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
(Optional) Fry up some bacon and add as garnish.

Key Gluten Free Flour
2 cups Brown Rice Flour
2/3 cup Tapioca Flour
1/3 cup Potato Starch

Directions

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Stir in the flour to distribute evenly. Add the stock, juice from 2 cans of chopped clams (reserve clams), milk, bay leaves, and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring consistently (the mixture will thicken), then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Then add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper, cook until clams are just firm, another 2 minutes.

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