Clam and Scallop Chowder with Potato Dumplings

Right away I want to comment about how proud of this recipe I am.  I thought it came out very well and though I'll probably still tweak it in the future, it was almost exactly what I was trying to get to.  

At a restaurant in Saratoga, NY, I had the greatest Clam Chowder I've ever had.  I tried to emulate that with this recipe, and I'm happy with the results.  Try it yourself and change things up.  Throw in some more seafood and you can easily call this a "Seafood Chowder."  

INGREDIENTS

• 4 strips of Bacon
• 1 Yellow Onion
• 1 Red Pepper
• 2 Yellow Potatoes
• 4-5 cloves of Garlic
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 2 cups White Wine (or Water, or Bottled Clam Juice, or a mix of any of those)
• 12 - 24 Littleneck Clams
• 6 oz Scallops

FOR THE DUMPLINGS

• 8 oz Mashed Potatoes
• 4 oz Flour
• 1 tbsp Milk or Cream
• 2 Eggs
• Parmesean Cheese (to taste)

Chop all of the vegetables into bite-sized pieces.  In a large dutch oven or soup pot, render out the bacon fat over medium heat.  When the bacon becomes crisp and most of the fat is rendered out, add the onion.  Saute the onion until slightly caramelized, then add the red pepper.  At this point, you could lower the heat a little if you would like.  

While you're sauteing your vegetables, boil 8oz of potatoes (2 small potatoes) and mash them.  Mix together your dumpling dough by adding the mashed potatoes to the eggs, flour, and milk.  Stir to combine and set aside.  

To steam the clams, place them in a steamer basket and pour in 2 cups of white wine, or water, or bottled clam juice.  Cover them and place them over high heat.  As they steam, they will open up and drip juices into the steaming liquid.  That will create a nice broth, so make sure you reserve that liquid!  

Add crushed garlic to the bacon/onion/red peppers and cook it for just a minute.  Next, add the cubed potatoes, reserved clam broth, heavy cream, clams, and scallops.  Stir to combine, and drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough on top of the soup.  Once the surface of the soup is dotted with dumplings, cover and let simmer for 15 or 20 minutes.  By then the dumplings should be steamed through, but if not, give it a little more time.  

I like to give the soup a gentle stir to get everything mixed together before I serve it up.  Garnish with chopped tarragon and an empty clam shell.