2 cups water
4 medium new potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
5 tablespoons butter
1 pint chopped clams
2 cups milk
24 small Monterey clams
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
chopped parsley and chives
Bring the water to a boil and start cooking the potatoes. Meanwhile, saute the onions in 2 tablespoons butter until translucent. When the potatoes are partially cooked, add the onions and their cooking butter, the chopped clams and their juice, plus an additional 1 tablespoon butter. Cook until tender. Now open the Monterey clams over the simmering soup so that their juices drop into the soup pot and mingle.
Poach the raw clams for just 1 minute in the soup. Taste, it may not need salt but add a generous amount of pepper. Serve in bread bowls (i.e. hollowed out sourdough loaves) with a little of the remaining butter floated on top and a sprinkling of parsley and chives.