Clam Chowder is one of those quintessential Northwest delicacies, and making you own is an easy feat if you don’t mind doing a little digging and picking beforehand. Washington’s fall season offers us a great opportunity to head west to the Pacific Beaches to harvest our tastiest of shellfish… the Razor Clam. If you can head into the forest and find a handful of Chanterelle Mushrooms to add to the pot, you will savor the perfect mix of local ingredients and make a truly awesome chowder!

Razor Clam Chowder Ingredients
I’m not one to drill down when I cook and measure out exactly what I put into a dish, so I am going to leave some of the guess work up to you. I think that when cooking you kind of need to just “go with it” and see what seems right. So here is a base list of things you should put in your chowder.
- Freshly harvested Washington Coast Razor Clams
- Chanterelle Mushrooms picked from your local forest
- One Walla Walla Sweet Onion
- Two Carrots
- One Yukon Gold Potato
- Two stalks of Celery
- Two slices of Smoked Bacon
- 4 Cloves of Garlic
- Two Bay Leaves
- Fresh Thyme
- Salt to taste
- Ground Black Pepper
- Flour for thickening
- Chicken Stock
- Half & Half
- Butter

Razor Clam Chowder Directions
- Get a large pot or dutch oven hot!
- Add sliced bacon and cook until done.
- Remove bacon and add a couple tablespoons of butter, then add chopped Walla Walla Sweet Onions, Chanterelle Mushrooms and thinly sliced Garlic. Once they are almost cooked, add chopped Celery, Carrot, Potato and cook for five minutes. Then add Flour for thickening and more Butter dependent on your love of Butter! (you want to do this now, as adding Flour later once the stock is added will cause it to clump). I go with a couple tablespoons of Flour but it is up to you on how thick you like your Chowder.
- Add Chicken Stock (at least a couple cups, dependent on how thick you want your chowder, eye-ball it!) also add Bay Leaves and Thyme at this point. Add the Bacon back into the pot as well.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then add as much chopped Razor Clam and Chanterelle Mushrooms as you have and/or want in your Chowder. Make sure that you don’t waste any of the juices that occurred from chopping up the clams as it adds to the flavor.
- Bring back to a very light boil.
- Add Half & Half and turn heat to low and let simmer for at least ten minutes.
- Plate and enjoy!
