New Jersey Clam Chowder

I apologize for not having a picture for this recipe! I was too busy eating the soup, I forgot to take the picture!

Just like the stuff from New England, only from Jersey!
*Makes about 5 quarts*

6-8 potatoes, diced
2 large celery sticks, diced
3 carrots, diced
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 strips bacon, diced
4 tbsp butter
4 cans clams, reserve the juice
1/3 cup flour
6-7 cups whole milk
1 cup half & half (or heavy cream)
Salt & pepper

In a large 6-qt stockpot, cook the bacon bits until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel - set aside. In the same pot, melt the butter and add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Season with salt and cook for about 5 minutes, or until veggies start to become tender. Add the potatoes and cook for another minute. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to coat all the vegetables. Cook for 1 more minute.
Slowly add the milk to the pot and stir to get out any lumps. Cover and bring to a boil, stirring often. Once potatoes have softened (like for mashed potatoes), turn off the heat and add two cans of the clams. CAREFULLY blend the soup with an immersion (or, stick) blender, or in a regular blender. Leave some of the soup chunky.
Put the soup back on the stove over low heat and add the clam juice, half & half, bacon bits and the remaining clams. Stir until well combined and just heated through.
Serve hot.

*This is my favorite soup to make, but be warned - it does take some time. I recommend prepping all your ingredients first: chop the veggies, set out the milk, chop the bacon, have the butter and flour ready...you get the idea. Once you have everything set out, you can start making the soup. It's just so much easier that way, than to try and do things during the cooking process. When the NY Giants beat the NE Patriots in the Superbowl in 2007, I temporarily renamed this soup to "Big Fat Loser Clam Chowder." Then, I permanently changed the name to New Jersey Clam Chowder. It's pretty much the same as NE Clam Chowder, but I'm sure there are some true New Englanders who will tell me it's not "authentic" enough. So, this is the Jersey version. I usually make this soup for our church soup suppers, and it's always the first one to be sold out. Try it out for yourself...you'll see!

A man finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word! Proverbs 15:23