Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
I decided to make soda bread and one of the most Irish things that I could think of, seafood chowder. When I visited Ireland, almost every restaurant had it. It always had fish, shrimp, and shellfish. Some times it was more brothy, sometimes a little thicker, but never thick and gloppy like chowder in the United States. It was never the same twice, but was always delicious.
Ingredients:
• 1 lb potatoes washed, peeled and diced (weight after peeling)
• 3 C milk
• 2 medium carrots, chopped in rings
• 8 oz of cod (or salmon, or a combination) cut in 1 inch cubes.
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 Tbs of butter
• 2-3 tsp of vegetable stock concentrate (I used Better than Bouillon)
• 2 Tbs duileasc flakes
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 6 oz raw peeled shrimp
• 6 oz raw mussels (weight after shelling)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• chopped parsley
Instructions:
- Boil potatoes in a saucepan of salted water until tender (8-10 minutes), drain, and set aside.
- Meanwhile heat a pan over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic in the butter until soft, but not coloured. Set aside.
- Put milk into a saucepan, place over moderate heat and bring to just under the boil.
- Add the duileasc, thyme, & vegetable stock concentrate.
- Remove from the heat, add 1/3 of the potatoes and puree with a hand blender to a smooth, creamy consistency.
- Return to the heat, add the carrots and the onion/garlic mixture. Simmer ~8 minutes.
- Add the fish and simmer 7 minutes.
- Add the shrimp and mussels and simmer 4 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. Add the cream. Stir gently and return to heat and cook for 1 minute.
- Serve garnished with parsley and enjoy!
Feel free to play with it. Not being fond of salmon, I use cod, even though salmon was more common when I was there. Sometimes it had baby clams. Have fun.
Uncompromising Flavors 