Lion's Mane Clam Chowder

Hearty. Creamy. Delicious.

What’s not to love about clam chowder? It’s the perfect comfort food for seafood lovers, especially on those chilly, windy days that call for something warm and inviting.

While classic, clammy chowder is always a favorite at our house, we prefer to jazz it up a bit with some marvelous microgreens and delicious lion’s mane mushrooms. You might be wondering, why mushrooms? Mushroom chowder? 😬

But if you’ve ever tasted lion’s mane mushrooms before, you already know where we’re headed with this.

Lion’s mane mushrooms are touted for their crab-like texture, and they often find their way into seafood dishes (like this one) as a vegetarian substitute. Some even liken the flavor to that of blue crab. In this recipe, they’re augmenting the pre-existing clam count to provide an extra meaty component. It makes the chowder richer and makes us feel like we’re eating more “seafood” for our buck, but you can easily substitute all of the clams for lion’s mane mushrooms, offering up the perfect seafood flavor for a mouthwatering “clamless” chowder.

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 2oz box of pink oyster mushrooms

• 1 can of chopped clams

• 1 pack of lion’s mane mushrooms

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 onion, diced

• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup vegetable stock

• 1 bay leaf

• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced

• 1 cup half and half

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• A pinch of microgreens

DIRECTIONS:

1. On medium-high heat and with a bit of butter, cook your lion’s mane mushrooms until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel. Then, repeat the process with your pink oyster mushrooms.

2. Pour juice from canned clams into measuring cup and set both clams and juice to the side.

3. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot and add garlic and onion. Stir frequently until your onions are translucent. Mix in thyme.

4. Whisk in flour, lightly browning it. Then gradually whisk in milk, vegetable stock, clam juice and bay leaf. Whisk constantly while cooking until the mixture is slightly thickened. Then add the potatoes. Stir.

5. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat, simmering until the potatoes are nice and tender. This should take between 12-15 minutes, depending on how thick your potatoes are.

6. Stir in your clams and lion’s mane mushrooms until heated through and season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Garnish with pink oyster mushrooms and microgreens. Serve and enjoy!

**Tip: If your soup is too thick, you can add more half and half to thin it out some.

Don’t forget the oyster crackers! Or, better yet, serve up some of this yummy goodness in a fresh-baked sourdough bowl. Then, snap a pic, post it on socials, and tag us @WhiteHarteFarms.