Awesome Clam Chowder

Tom and I recently ate at Red Robin, and tried their clam chowder. We both thought it was fabulous, so I attempted to find a clone on-line. My search returned a recipe for Awesome Clam Chowder.

Awesome Clam Chowder

• 6-7 pieces bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1 med onion, chopped
• 2 (5 ounce) cans baby clams, with juice reserved
• 1 bottle clam juice
• 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed into 2" chunks
• 2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans cream of celery soup
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 Tb butter
• 1 tsp dried dill weed (if you don't have dill weed, use thyme)
• 1 tsp pepper
• Salt to taste

1. Add bacon to dutch oven and cook on medium heat until crispy. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add clam juice from both cans of clams plus bottle of clam juice. Add potatoes, bring to a simmer, and cover until potatoes are fork tender (about 15-20 minutes). Stir occasionally so potatoes won't stick.
2. Add *clams*, soup, cream, milk, dill weed and stir together. Add butter and let melt into the chowder, then add pepper. Simmer for about 30-45 minutes or until thickened. Stir occasionally and add salt to taste.

*clams are going to toughen --- add 5 min. before done.

I added too much salt, so the soup was too salty for me to enjoy, but Tom liked it. When I tried to imagine the flavor without the extra salt, I think it was okay, but not what I was hoping for. For the time being, I'll stick with my normal recipe for clam chowder.