Favorite Family Recipes. . .
When someone asks for the recipe, we post it here.

Seafood Chowder/New Year's Day Oyster Stew

So . . . what's the difference between chowder & stew?
Traditionally, seafood stew is made with seafood and milk or cream. . . and that's about it.
With a chowder, you can toss in some onions and potatoes -- or you can get fancy and add white wine and fresh parsley too!

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Ingredients
• 3/4 c. (1 -1/2 sticks) butter - divided
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 potatoes
• 3 cups whole oysters
• 3 cups baby clams
• 3 cups milk - divided
• 2 cups half & half - divided
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry wine
• 1/4 c. fresh or dried chopped parsley
• Pinch of cayenne pepper.

Instructions
• Peel and cut potatoes into 1/2" chunks. Boil until soft. Drain and set aside.

• Melt 1/2 c. butter in large stock pot. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until fragrant and onions are soft: 5 - 10 minutes.

• Add oysters, clams and potatoes to the butter mixture and cook over medium heat for 5 - 10 minutes. Add just enough liquid (from the oysters and/or clams) to keep mixture from burning. Do not allow it to boil.

• Add 2 cups of the milk and 1 cup of the Half & Half to the pot and continue cooking over LOW heat.

• Meanwhile in smaller saucepan, melt 1/4 c. butter. Whisk in the flour to create a roux. Add 1 cup milk and 1 cup Half & Half and cook -- stirring frequently -- until mixture is thick.

• Add the sherry to the roux mixture and continue to cook another 3-5 minutes until very thick.

• Stir the mixture into the chowder

• Add the parsley and cayenne pepper.

• Allow the chowder to warm/cook over very low heat for up to 20 minutes for flavors to combine.

• Stir frequently to keep milk from forming a film.

•The chowder will have a real tendency to thicken. Save some of the juices/liquid from the clams and oysters to add if yours becomes too thick.
Thinning the soup will also help it go farther!

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Oyster Stew is a New Year's Day tradition in our family.

In 2010, I changed it up . . .
I'm not a huge fan of oysters, but I do like clams.
In this recipe, I added clams, potatoes and sherry-wine!
Delicious!!!

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