We are right at the edge of soup season. I mean, if you’re my Mom, soup has no season, and you eat steamy bowls of broth seasoned any which way week after week, all 52 of them. I’m not so much that way. For me, the only food that really spans all seasons is ice cream. I want to clarify that I’m not anti-soup, it’s just not my go-to as we head into these warmer months. Since, in my mind, we’ve only got a few weeks of cozy food weather left, and we’re still rocking meatless Fridays around here for a few more weeks, this seafood chowder is just the most perfect thing for my current purposes.
This chowder is inspired by Irish adventures from last fall. The green rolling hills of Irish folklore lead to the sea from every angle, which means that a hearty, creamy chowder can be found on any menu, served with a piping hot loaf of fresh soda bread and a healthy dollop of good, salted butter– the best you’ll ever eat. This recipe isn’t quite as creamy as those we ate on our Irish travels last fall (and we ate a lot), but what it lacks in fat it holds onto in flavor. I mean, as much as I love eating a bowl of full out Irish cream (not Irish cream, but cream from Ireland. You know what I mean), it was not so good for the gut and certainly not so good for the waistline. That’s great for vacation, but when I’m back stateside, concessions must be made.
Not that what we’ve got here is a concession in any way. The creaminess remains thanks to milk, and some pureed potatoes and corn. Seafood is your choice, just make sure that there is a 1 – 1 1/2 pounds of it (I used cod and mussels). I left this slightly chunky, but if cream creamy is your thing, puree it all before you add the seafood to finish it off.
Ingredients:
1 TB unsalted butter
1 leek, cleaned and sliced (white part only)
1 tsp fresh thyme
3/4 pound cod fillets, cut into 1″ chunks
1/2 pound mussels);4 cups seafood stock
1/2 cup milk;1/4 cup heavy cream
1 TB fresh dill
1 cup frozen corn, divided
1 Russet Potato, diced;
Seafood Chowder
Creamy Irish style chowder lightened up with leeks, fish and mussels, corn and potatoes in this creamy seafood chowder recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 TB unsalted butter
- 1 leek, cleaned and sliced (white part only)
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 3/4 pound cod fillets, cut into 1" chunks
- 1/2 pound mussels)
- 4 cups seafood stock
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 TB fresh dill
- 1 cup frozen corn, divided
- 1 Russet Potato, diced
Directions
- Step 1 Add the butter to a deep stockpot over medium high heat. Add the chopped leek and corn and thyme, and cook until the leek has softened, about 5 minutes. Add the potato and stock, and gently 20 minutes until the potato is soft and falls apart when pierced with a fork. Add the milk and cream, and using an immersion blender, puree the soup until is mostly smooth, but still has some chunks and texture.
- Step 2 Turn the heat down to a simmer, and add the seafood and cook an additional 5 minutes until the mussels are opened and the fish is cooked through. Discard any mussels that remain unopened. Add the fresh dill, and serve with fresh better and good salted Irish butter.
