Bowl-Full of Fish & Seafood Chowder
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
I have been a fan of Michael Smith – cookbook author, newspaper columnist, and Canadian cuisine ambassador plus busy dad, at home on PEI, with his partner Rachel and their son Gabriel. The thing I like about his recipes is the why he promotes the recipe to be a ‘guideline’, ‘words on paper’; ‘a starting point from which to improvise’. Anyone who has sat in my kitchen (with a glass of vino) and watched me cook, has witnessed some creative improvisation on recipes. I am notoriously known to never follow the recipe by verbatim. You would be hard pressed to see me even using a measuring cup or measuring spoon. So with that said, Michael Smith’s philosophy of cooking follows my ways of creating in the kitchen.
Here is a great recipe that I have been asked to make countless times. We have had this as our New Years late night celebration main course with fresh baguettes, salad and plenty of vino flowing! I didn’t know if the kids would enjoy this but to my surprise, they loved the flavours and enjoyed dipping fresh bread and nibbling away at the floating fish and veggies.
My recipe is a version taken from Michael Smith’s Seafood Chowder with Dill.
Ingredients: Be creative, add, what you wish, adjust the amounts, play with the recipe.
1/2 pound bacon, chopped- 2 onions (can use leeks too)
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 cup frozen corn nibblets
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 6 cups milk (or 3 cups milk + 3 cups whipping cream – if you want a richer chowder)
- 1 cup white wine (drink the rest)
- 2 baking potato, washed and grated (This is the “soup thickening” secret)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pound fresh fish (cut into cubes) – salmon, halibut, cod, tilapia or sole (any combination)
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and de-veined (previously frozen works fine)
- 1 bunch fresh dill, chopped (If don’t have fresh, use 1 tbsp dried dill)
- Any herb you like – I often add some chopped Italian parsley, fresh chives.
- Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
- Brown the bacon in a large soup pot until crisp.
- Add chopped onions, celery and carrots into the pot of browned bacon. Saute until veggies are softened.
- Add in the frozen corn nibblets and peas (if you are adding in those veggie options) into pot and stir together.
- Add in milk (and cream, if desired), wine, grated potato and bay leaves. Stir and cook over medium heat until potato dissolves and thickens the soup (approx 20 mins).
- Add cut of mixture of fish, season with salt and pepper. Simmer just until fish is cooked through (5-10 mins).
- Just before serving stir in the fresh chopped herbs (dill etc.)
