Place a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy, about 10 minutes, stir often so it doesn’t burn. Take the bacon out but save the drippings in the pot.
Add the onion and celery, and stir them around so it is coated in the bacon grease. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally; try to scrape any of the browned bits from the bacon off the bottom of the pot.
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly, 30 seconds.
Add the flour and stir so the vegetables are coated. Cook for 2 minutes.
Slowly add the stock to the pot while whisking constantly, this will help prevent lumps.
Slowly add in the half and half. Finally, add the reserved clam juice.
Place the potatoes, bay leaves, pepper, thyme, paprika, and salt, and stir to combine.
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer uncovered for 30-35 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender. Make sure to stir often and scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing sticks.
Stir in the clams and allow them to warm through for 5 minutes.
Serve immediately with the cooked bacon on top.
Notes
Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
This makes a wonderful base recipe, if you wanted to make it a seafood chowder with other seafood.
This thickens as it cools. If you have leftovers you need to reheat, I suggest adding some more stock to loosen it up. Reheat on the stove top or microwave.
I like to serve it with a little more pepper on top, dried parsley, and oyster crackers along with the bacon. Other yummy toppings would be cheese, other crackers, or even croutons.
Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days, freeze for up to 3 months.