Seafood Chowder Recipe

Rainy cold days like today are perfect for Chowder--especially when you are fortunate enough to live close to affordable fresh seafood.  I love a light New England Style Chowder with sweet vegetables (like carrots or sweet corn) and a bit of spice. I always have a problem finding bottled Clam Juice--so, I always use Chicken Broth instead.

Ingredients

• 4  chopped bacon slices
• 3  cups diced red potato 
• 1  cup  chopped onion
• 3  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• Chicken Broth
• 2  cups  half and half
• 1  tablespoon  thyme
• 100 grams skinless cod or halibut fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces
• handful of shelled and deveined shrimp
• 2 handfuls of scrubbed and cleaned clams and mussels
• 1 cup chopped scallion
• Salt, Black pepper and Paprika to taste

Preparation

Cook bacon in a wok over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Reserve 1 tablespoon drippings in pan; discard remaining drippings. Cool bacon, and crumble. Set bacon aside. Add potato and onion to drippings in pan; sauté 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add flour to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in chicken broth (enough to cover vegetables); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in half and half; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly (do not boil). Stir in thyme, salt, pepper, and fish and other shellfish; cook 3 minutes or until shellfish opens or until desired degree of doneness. Stir in scallions. Sprinkle with bacon.