NEW ENGLAND-STYLE CLAM CHOWDER

Prep: 20 mins + soaking. Cooking: 30 mins. Serves 6

40g butter, coarsely chopped

200g rindless bacon, chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

120ml dry white wine

1kg clams, soaked in cold water for 1hr to remove grit

3 cups (750ml) chicken stock

750g (about 3) desiree potatoes,

quartered and thickly sliced

½ cup (125ml) pouring cream

1 dried bay leaf

2 skinless bream fillets (400g each),

pin-boned and cut into 3cm-4cm pieces 12 large scallops, white muscle trimmed Flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish Warm bread, to serve

1 Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add bacon, celery and onion and sauté until vegetables are tender, about 10 mins.

2 In a separate large saucepan, bring wine to the boil over high heat. Add clams, cover with a lid and shake pan occasionally until clams have opened, about 2–3 mins. Strain clams through a fine sieve, reserving cooking liquid. Set clams aside to cool slightly and add cooking liquid to bacon mixture along with the stock. Remove the clam meat from most of the shells, reserving a few whole clams for garnish. Discard picked-over shells.

3 Bring stock mixture to the boil over medium-high heat, add potato, cream and bay leaf and simmer, uncovered, until potato is tender, 15–20 mins; break potato into coarse pieces with a wooden spoon towards the end of cooking. Add bream and scallops, reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, a further 2–3 mins or until just cooked through. Stir in reserved whole clams and clam meat and season to taste. Spoon into bowls, scatter with parsley and serve with warm bread on the side.