Old Colony Club Clam Muddle

By John, 18 September, 2022
Region
New England
Description

"Clam Muddle"Here's another old Plymouth dish made with fresh local sea clams. This was served for many years at the venerable Old Colony Club in Plymouth.

It's not hearty like a clam chowder. This has no potatoes or other vegetables or meat in it, so it's not much for a lunch on its own.  It's a delicate soup course served rather like a consomme, to open a larger meal. I serve Clam Muddle in cups rather than in bowls.

Yield
8 Servings
Preparation time
15 minutes
Cooking time
10 minutes
Total time
25 minutes
Ingredients
1 q ground sea clams
2 c Clam Juice
2 T Butter (Unsalted)
2 T Flour
1 t cayenne
6 c Milk
Instructions
  1. Have three saucepans ready, the third big enough to hold everything.
  2. In one saucepan, heat the milk to scalding and keep it hot but do not let it boil. 
  3. If they are not ground, grind the clams. A grinder is better than a food processor for this. Save the liquid in a 2-cup measuring cup.
  4. If the measuring cup has less than two cups, add water to get to two cups. Bring it to a simmer in the second saucepan and cook the clams in it until just cooked, about a minute.
  5. In the third saucepan, cook the butter and flour into a roux. Add the cayenne, then stir in the clam mixture and return it just to the boil to thicken up a little. Remember that this is a soup, not a sauce.
  6. When the clam mixture has reached the boil, turn off the heat and stir in the milk. Serve immediately, with oyster crackers.
Source

Adapted from The Plimoth Colony Cook Book.