seafood chowder at home

seafood chowder

i love good fresh chowder but was hesitant to tackle the fish stock part of it.  to make things a little easier (and faster), i did the stock last night, along with all of my chopping and dinner tonight was simple and quick. this is one of ina's recipes, i just added a little extra white wine and mixed in some old bay to give it a little more kick. serve along with a few slices of good crusty bread for dipping~

chowder

prep time: 15 mins

cook time: 1 hour

ingredients:

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (save shells for stock)
• 1/2 pound scallops
• 1/2 pound monkfish (ask your monger to take if off the bone for you)
• 1/2 pound fresh lump crabmeat, picked over to remove shells
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter
• 1 cup peeled and medium-diced carrots (4 carrots)
• 1/2 cup medium-diced yellow onion
• 1 cup medium-diced celery
• 1 cup medium-diced small red potatoes
• 1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 recipe seafood stock (recipe below)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

cut the shrimp, scallops, and monkfish into bite-sized pieces and place them in a bowl with the crabmeat. in a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter; add the carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, and corn and saute over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are barely cooked, stirring occasionally. sprinkly in the flour; reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. add the stock and bring to a boil. add the seafood; reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 7 to 10 minutes, until the fish is just cooked. add the heavy cream, and the parsley. add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

stock

prep time: 15 mins

cook time: 1 hour

ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• Shells from 1 pound large shrimp
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions
• 2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup good white wine
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon old bay seasoning
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme, including stems

warm the oil in a stockpot over medium heat. add the shrimp shells, onions, carrots, and celery and saute for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. add the garlic and cook 2 more minutes. add 1 1/2 quarts of water, the white wine, tomato paste, salt, pepper, old bay and thyme. bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour. strain through a sieve, pressing the solids. let cool a bit before you refrigerate.