Woodman's-Style Clam Chowder

Excellent clam chowder—no shucking necessary. After tasting the award-winning New England clam chowder at the immensely popular Woodman's of Essex in Massachusetts, we wanted to see if we could bring a recipe inspired by their version to home kitchens everywhere. At Woodman's, the team uses freshly shucked clams, relying on the quality of those bivalves to set their chowder apart. We tried our own scaled-down version of the Woodman's recipe with the different varieties of canned clams available at our local grocery stores. We were pleasantly surprised with both the flavor and texture we got when using a combination of canned chopped clams and canned whole baby clams. We began by partially cooking diced russet potatoes and mixing them with the chopped clams and their juice, finely chopped onion, salt, and pepper. After letting that mixture marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour (this step was crucial for letting the flavors meld since the chowder was cooked for such a short time), we heated it up slowly in a large saucepan over medium heat, carefully keeping the chowder below a simmer to avoid turning the clams rubbery. Once the potatoes were almost tender, we added the whole baby clams and light cream. After just 5 minutes more, still below a simmer, the clams remained succulent and tender, the potatoes were cooked through and creamy, and the chowder was deliciously close to the one we remembered from Woodman's. Finally, we melted in a knob of butter, enriching the relatively light chowder and adding the signature butteriness of the Woodman's version.

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