Real NE clam chowda;
Since I was a little kid I used to bring home buckets of clams that I dug up on Cape Cod in the summer time off the beaches & sandbars. Some people gone straight to heaven after eating it. I only wish my lobster bisk was as good.

Cook (boil) up a bunch of clams, quahogs will do but don't waste you time doing steamers, they're for gulping not for stews or chowda's, hard shell & little necks are good too, I like little necks best. Use the broth or buy some clam juice & start cooking up some cut up potatoes, I cook my clams with the potatoes & don't strain any of the liquid. Seperately I cook up 1-2 piece(s) of bacon (Canadian bacon's ok but it's not New England then) till it'll crumble (I crumble it into the chowda) set it aside & add only after you've added the milk & cream. Cut up some onion, a little celery, a tiny bit of roasted red pepper & some garlic & add to the pan that the bacon was cooked in. After that mix has been sauted for awhile turn down the heat under the pot for the chowda (make sure the potatoes are cooked enough) & add milk (I like no fat) & a bit of light cream or half & half, let that heat/simmer for awhile, then add the celery, onion (some scallions are good too), red pepper & garlic & add to that white or sweet corn. Replinish as needed after depleting it.
I love to add shellfish to my chowda's, shrimp, scollops, conch but not mussels, crabs or oysters, lobster's fine but lobster is best on it's own (like adding water to a good scotch). Don't boil once you've added the milk/cream. I don't use salt, there's enough salt in the clams/shellfish. For spices I use a bit of ground white (black's ok too) pepper, parsley, thyme, maybe a pinch of peperika.
Mix up a couple tablespoons of cornstach. After the chowder is heated take out some of the liquid & mix it with the cornstarch, adding a little cornstarch at a time so it'll blend smooth, when it's broken down & smooth add it all back to the broth along with some butter (1tbs) then add in your spices (spices are best added between a half hour & 15 minutes before the chowda's done)

I do miss living at the water's edge

Happy eating
Barry