Directions

The Corn

Shuck the corn, making sure you pull off all the yellow ‘silk’…it sometimes sticks in between the rows. Shave off the corn kernels from each cob. It’s less messy to hold each ear of corn in a stainless bowl while you are doing this. The kernels will fall into the bowl and you will capture any corn ‘milk’ (the juices from the kernels) as well. Repeat shucking and scraping all the corn. You should have about 4-cups of shucked corn kernels. Set aside.

Corn Broth

Snap each shucked ear in half and put all the corncobs in a saucepan and cover the cobs with cold water. Add ½ of the peeled onion half (you are adding ¼ of the total onion!) to the pot, along with 1 bay leaf, 1 clove peeled garlic and a small pinch of kosher salt. Flatten the peeled garlic clove with the back of your chef’s knife before adding it to the pot. Put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook for about 30 minutes or until your broth tastes ‘corny’. Turn it off. (This broth will be fairly delicate in flavor.)

The Littleneck Clams

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to thoroughly, thoroughly clean the clams—it is so unpleasant to bite down on grit. It will set your teeth ‘a-chattering’ and it might just be all you remember about the soup! Run cold water over the clams in a bowl set in the sink. Scrub the visible dirt/mud off the shells. Keep scrubbing, soaking and changing the water until the water is clear and neither muddy nor brown. After 10 minutes of active cleaning, add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt to the bowl and add new water to dissolve the salt and cover the clams again. ‘Purge’ the clams for 15-20 more minutes. Maybe you will have more grit in the bottom of the bowl. Rinse clams again and thoroughly.

Steaming open the clams

Roughly chop ¼ of the onion (you should still have ½ onion remaining). Add to the bottom of a pot large enough to hold all the clams. Add a pinch of thyme, a few twists of the peppermill and 1 bay leaf. Add 2/3rd cup cold water to the pot as well. Add all the clams to the pot. Cover

the pot and steam open on medium heat. Don’t worry if the juices boil up as a foamy broth, just watch the heat and reduce if it threatens to boil over. Stir the clams in the pot and remove any open clams to a separate bowl. When all the clams have opened, strain the clam juice into another bowl and let it sit, any remaining grit should fall to the bottom of the bowl. Shuck the clams and set aside. Save a few shells to garnish the soup, if that appeals to you.

Making the soup base

Finely dice the remaining ½ piece of onion. Thinly slice the remaining clove of garlic. Slice the frozen bacon into 1/8th-inch pieces. Add to the pot with a tablespoon of oil. Turn the heat on to medium and cook slowly to render the bacon and soften the garlic and onions. Add the reserved shucked corn. Stir well. Cover the pot, turn the heat to low and let cook until softened, about 10 minutes or so. (Add another tablespoon of oil, if necessary to prevent sticking.) Strain the corn broth (if using, if not use water or diluted (1:1) chicken or vegetable stock) and add 6 cups of liquids to the pot. Stir well to combine. Strain the clam broth, leaving any grit in the bottom of the bowl. Add the clam juice to the pot as well. Bring soup to gentle boil, stir and reduce to gently (again!) simmer. Allow soup to simmer for 30-40 minutes. Remove ½ the volume of soup to another pot or bowl and use an immersion blender to completely puree the remaining soup in the pot. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can, of course puree half of the soup in a blender. But be careful, the soup will be very HOT and will ‘explode’ in the blender. Best to do it in very small batches so as to not risk getting burned. (FYI, I was impatient did NOT let it cool, put too much in the blender and I got corn soup all over the wall!!) Re-combine the pureed soup with the rest of the soup. Chop the reserved clams and add to the soup. Re-heat gently and taste for seasoning. (Note that we did not add any salt up until now. Your clam juice may have been enough salt.) Add some or all of the half and half—it will adjust the thickness, the color and add a bit of richness. And be sure to add plenty of cracked fresh black pepper.