Clam Chowder Fries

    Freshly made thick cut french fries are smothered in a thick New England clam chowder. It\’s a poutine chowder mash-up!

    Ingredients

    • 1 Pound Raw Clam with Juices
    • 8 Ounces Bacon
    • 2 Tablespoons Butter
    • 1 Small Onion
    • 2 Stalks Celery
    • 2 Small Carrots
    • 1 Clove Garlic
    • 3 Cups Milk
    • 1 Cup Cream
    • 1 Cup Potato Flakes
    • 2 Stalks Corn
    • 1/4 Cup Chopped Chives
    • 3 Russet Potatoes
    • Oil for Frying

    Instructions

    1. Cut the fries and add them to a bowl of cold water as you cut them. Strain and refill with water, and repeat one more time. Add ice to the bowl and put into the fridge for 2 hours.
    2. Remove the fries from the water and lay out on some paper towels to dry. Fry in batches at 300 for about 8 minutes until a fork goes through without much resistance. Remove from oil. Heat oil to 375 and fry your fries again for about 3 minutes to crisp up. Remove from oil and salt immediately.
    3. Chop the veggies and mince the garlic. Cut the corn off the cobs. Chop up the bacon. Cook the bacon in a large skillet to brown. Remove from pan. Drain out much of the fat, leaving a few tablespoons. Add in the butter and then the onion, carrot, and celery. Scrape the bottom of the pan as you cook to incorporate the yummy bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook about 5-7 minutes until sweated and almost starting to brown. Mix in the garlic and cook 2 minutes.
    4. Stir in the milk and cream and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in the potato flakes to thicken the sauce. You may need a little more for desired thickness. You want this to be on the thick side to cling to the fries! Return to heat and bring to a simmer, paying attention to stirring and not burning on the bottom of the pan. Stir in the corn and clams and simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
    5. Put the fries on a plate and dump the soup on top. Top with bacon and chives and serve immediately!

    Notes

    I ate a lot of french fries and seafood over the weekend, and I was loving the combination. I had some fish and chips, some fried clams, and an oyster and shrimp po boy, and they all came with fries. I wanted to integrate the seafood with the fries even more, and I thought of the idea of just dumping some clam chowder on top of a pile of fries, similar to the way you would dump gravy on for poutine. I made the fries nice and thick, and made the chowder more sauce like with lots of clam, no potatoes, and no big chunks of anything.

    Nice thick fries.  As you cut them, get them into a water bath.
    A little ice and then go in the fridge a few hours. This helps get extra starch out so they can be super crispy.
    Can’t make clam chowder without bacon, and coincidentally it goes well with french fries too!
    A nice simple chowder.
    Lots of clams in there, and some corn was a last minute addition tat was a great idea!
    The potatoes are finally frying up.  This is the first fry at 300 degrees.
    After the first fry the potatoes are kind of limp and don’t have much color.  But after you fry them a second time at 375, they get crispy and delicious!
    Dump the soup right on top of the fries.
    This dish is amazing.  Creamy clammy goodness on top of crispy and piping hot french fries.
    The bacon and fresh chives on top are the perfect garnish.