Taking input from several different sources (including Cooks Illustrated, 500 Low Carb Recipes, and AllRecipes.com), Young and I put together what turned out to be a really amazing low-carb New England Clam Chowder. The whole process took only an hour or so, and resulted in enough chowder for two nights.
The base ingredients:
1.0 cups heavy cream
1.0 cups chicken broth
4.0 6.5oz cans of minced cooked clams
0.5 lbs bacon
1.0 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1.0 pound frozen cauliflower, thawed
0.25 tsp guar gum
1.0 large bay leaf
1.0 tsp dried parsley
1.0 tsp ground black pepper
1.0 tsp dried thyme
The process:
At the very beginning, started cooking the bacon in a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. While the bacon was cooking up, I opened up the canned clams and poured the clam juice into a separate bowl.
To the clam juice, I then added all of the seasionings and thickener (guar gum) and mixed thoroughly.
Once the bacon was nearly finished cooking, we added the minced onion to the sam pan and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. After the onions were nice and soft, we transferred the bacon/onion mix into a large stock pot.
To the stock pot I then poured in the cauliflower, clam juice (with seasonings), and the chicken broth. I set the heat to medium and let this simmer/boil for 15 minutes, covered.
After simmering for 15 minutes, I opened the lid and turned down the heat a bit. I then added the cream and the clams to the pot. I let it come back up to a slow simmer, and let it simmer for an additional 5 minutes in the pot.
We then removed it from the heat, and served immediately.
Results and Fixups:
1. The flavor was TO DIE FOR. It was totally awesome. Rich, savory. The cauliflower fit right in. It was the same texture as potatoes, and like potatoes, offered little/no flavor of their own.
2. We should have chopped up the bacon before transferring it to the stock pot.
3. Young thought we should have added a bit more ground black pepper, although I thought the amount was OK.
This is one that we will definitely do again. And again.