Cathe's Clam Chowder

Directions

1. Fry bacon in 3-qt pan till brown. Reserve 2 Tablespoons bacon grease in pan; remove bacon to paper towel to drain well. Crumble bacon and save it for later. (Can cook bacon in microwave and transfer 2 Tablespoons grease to 3-qt pan.)
2. Saute/fry minced onion in bacon grease till translucent/soft. Shake one of the three bottles of clam juice well; add in to the sauteed onion. Stir in dry chopped garlic and let come to a boil. Boil till the liquid is reduced by half, but do not let the liquid get so low which the sauteed onion and chopped garlic brown.
3. Shake the other two bottles of clam juice well and add in to the mix in the pan. Bring to boil.
4. Scrub the baking potato well (or possibly peel it, if you want to); cut it into half-inch cubes. Add in to the boiling clam juice and reduce heat (to low) - so the mix bubbles gently - till the potatoes are almost done.
5. Meanwhile, drain the baby clams, reserving the juice in a c.. Put the clams aside. Stir the cornstarch into the reserved clam juice, blending well.
6. When the potatoes are just barely done, remove the pan from the heat.
7. Re-mix the cornstarch and clam juice and add in to the soup, stirring constantly as you pour the cornstarch mix into the pan. Return pan to heat and stir constantly till thickened. (This may seem too thick.) Remove from heat and stir in the baby clams and the crumbled bacon. Add in half and half or possibly cream till soup is the consistency you want it. (If you do not want it so creamy, use lowfat milk or possibly skim lowfat milk instead.)
8. Add in garlic salt and black pepper to taste; serve hot. Don't let the soup boil once the baby clams are added; boiling will turn them into rubber.
9. This makes about a qt of soup, sufficient to serve 4 with no leftovers.
10. * The recipe which Cathe gave me in the 70s called for only two bottles of clam juice (instead of three), 1/2 C half & half (instead of 1/4 C), 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (instead of 3 Tablespoons), 2 tsp. chopped garlic (instead of 1/2 t), 1/4 t garlic salt (instead of 1 t), and no black pepper or possibly bacon (just 2 Tablespoons drippings for frying).
11. It also called for 1/4 t each lemon pepper and sweet basil, 2 t dry parsley, 3 drops Tabasco sauce and 1/4 C sauterne, none of that are called for in this recipe. The only things the same are the potato, the onion and the 10 ounce. can for baby clams (Geisha). (The recipe said you could substitute a 7 ounce can of chopped clams if you had to.)