Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 celery cut lengthwise into 4 sections each then sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
Meat of 24 steamed clams and 10 ounces of the liquor from steaming (see steamed clams recipe)
or
2 (10-ounce) cans chopped clams in juice
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
1 pound of potatoes cut into 1/2- inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Equipment:

6 QT stove top sauce pot

Cooking Directions:

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Stir in the flour, mix to break up any lumps. Add the chicken stock, steamed clam liquor (or the juice from 2 cans of chopped clam), cream, bay leaves, and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Once the potatoes are tender, add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper and serve. If using canned clams, cook until clams are just firm – about 2 minutes.