Easy Clam Chowder

For some odd reason I had a craving for clam chowder a few weeks ago. I'm not really even sure why. I searched through our cookbooks and around the Internet for something fairly simply but something just wasn't quite right about anything I came across so I stitched together the pieces of recipes I liked and put this together. Who knew that I was making Patrick's first pot of clam chowder! As you can imagine he was a little apprehensive at first but by the end of the bowl he had come around to it and approved!

Easy Clam Chowder served with toast-y cheese-y croutons.

Easy Clam Chowder
   Serves 4
Ingredients
1 lb yukon gold potatoes, in a small dice
8 oz bottle of clam juice
10 oz can of clams, drained and juices reserved
1 onion, diced
1-2 slices of bacon, diced
2 cups stock
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp Old bay seasoning
1/2 cup half and half
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Directions
In a medium pot warm 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and fry [1-2 slices, chopped] bacon on medium heat. Once bacon is crispy add the second tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and then the [one, diced] onion. Saute until onion is translucent (4-5 min) then stir in [1 tbsp] flour. Continue stirring for 1 minute and then slowly whisk in [2 cups] stock, clam juice, and reserved clam juice from clams. Add [1 lb, diced] potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. The smaller your dice, the quicker the potatoes will become tender.
   Once the potatoes are tender blend about half the soup. We used the immersion blender; you could remove about half the soup to a blender and blend; or you could take a potato masher and mash a bit throughout the soup. This starch from the broken potatoes will further thicken your soup. If you want a thinner soup with more whole potatoes then blend less (or not at all). You could also blend the whole soup if you didn't want potato chunks.
   Finally add the [1/2 cup] half and half and the clams to the soup. Serve immediately.

Next time I make this I will add celery and carrots with the onions.
For the croutons, we had whole wheat hoagies left over. I diced them and then tossed with olive oil, Italian seasonings, and parmesan and then baked in the toaster until cheese was melted.

Do you have a favorite clam chowder recipe??