This recipe is great for cockles, Butter clams, Horsenecks or Piddocks. If you forage your own clams, additional preparation is needed to trim, clean and tenderize them. Information can be found in the guide book.
Ingredients
- 2 strips bacon, chopped (always a good place to start)
- 1 tablespoon corn flour
- 1 can diced tomatoes (or, if you’re feeling inspired, make your own tomato sauce)
- 3 potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 carrots chopped
- Chunks rockfish fillet (optional)
- 15+ cockles or small Butter clams if you have them, or just add chopped up and tenderized Gaper or Piddock siphons
- Fresh Italian parsley
- Fresh loaf sourdough bread, for dipping
Preparation
Fry the chopped bacon in a skillet. When it has browned, remove it from the skillet, mix the corn flour with the grease and cook briefly to make a simple roux.
Then drop the bacon, roux, vegetables and rockfish (if using) into the Crock-Pot, set it on medium or low, and come back in 6–8 hours to some awesome chowder.
Obviously, you don’t want to cook your clams for 6 hours. So drop them in (uncooked) sometime in the last 15 minutes, depending on how hot the Crock-Pot is cooking (you want it to be boiling at this point). Once the clams open they are done. If you’re using Basket cockles (especially the big baseball-sized ones), you’ll want to remove them from the shell once they open, chop them up, and return them to the chowder as otherwise they are a large mouthful. Likewise, if you’re using Gaper siphons, slam them for a few seconds with a tenderizing hammer, and then cut them into small pieces before adding to the pot.
Put into bowls, top with chopped parsley and enjoy with some fresh sourdough bread.
About this recipe
Find more recipes in the book, The Sea Forager's Guide to the Northern California Coast.
