THE BEST New England Clam Chowder Courtesy the Food Network (and My Husband and Kids!)

As a soup lover, I find myself drawn to soup recipes and trying all sorts of soups. It's so comforting on a cold winter's night! When David (my husband) offered to cook dinner this weekend, I immediately said okay, because it was a welcome break from cooking all week. (I love to cook, but a girl needs a break every once in a while.) I had recorded an episode of Good Deal with Dave Lieberman on the Food Network. David watched it and decided he and the kids would make the New England Clam Chowder with Pan Toasted Croutons and I was so glad they did! The soup makes enough for an army. Even in our family of 6, after we each had multiple servings, we had 2 medium sized Tupperware containers left for another night. The chowder is rich and creamy. The potatoes were perfect, tender, but not mushy and the crisp croutons were the perfect complement to the creamy soup. In addition to being delicious, it was very economical and cost around $10 to make the entire pot. I think we can probably get at least one or maybe 2 more meals out of the leftovers!

Here's the recipe:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 celery stalks (reserve tender leaves) trimmed, quartered lengthwise, then sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 (10-ounce) cans chopped clams in juice

1 cup heavy cream

2 bay leaves

1 pound Idaho potatoes, cut into 1/2- inch cubes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pan Toasted Croutons:

2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes

3 tablespoons freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Stir in the flour to distribute evenly. Add the stock, juice from 2 cans of chopped clams (reserve clams), cream, bay leaves, and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring consistently (the mixture will thicken), then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Then add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper, cook until clams are just firm, another 2 minutes.

For the Pan Toasted Croutons: Melt the butter in a large skillet and toss the bread cubes in the butter until browned and toasted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper.

All of our kids, ages 4 to 10 loved it and asked for more! This has definitely become a family favorite for us.