Well, it is that time of year again! Chilling down outside and making us crave hot goodness inside! I love a good chowder, and sourdough bread, so tonight I made some seafood chowder and served them up by the fireplace in bread bowls. I make my soups and chowders like I do my banana bread–different every time, because it is a canvas that lends itself to change according to mood and available ingredients. But here is what I did tonight:
Seafood Chowder with Smoked Oysters
For the base, I cut up four slices of bacon to start rendering in the bottom of the pot. You don’t need to brown it because when you add the other ingredients, it won’t stay crispy. I took the oil from one can of smoked oysters and added it to the pot, along with one medium onion, and two stalks of celery, diced. You let the veggies start sweating down, and when they are translucent–just a few minutes, you pour a glass of white wine…I used a wonderful Pinot Grigio from my Wine of the Month Club…take a sip. Good? Great!
Dump the rest of the glass in the pot and stir it in, scraping the bottom of the pot -basically deglazing it. pour in your clam juice (and crab juice) and then your diced potatoes, with the water they have been soaking in.
I didn’t thicken with flour–so if you left off the bread bowls the chowder would be gluten free. You could thicken with flour, if you wanted, so once your onions and celery are translucent, sprinkle a Tablespoon or so in, and stir briskly, with a fork, to make sure the lumps dissapate!
To thicken without flour, just make some of the potato chunks much smaller than the rest so they will cook down faster. And the potato starch that collected in the water helps as well. Now you want to bring the pot up to a high simmer for about 10 minutes or a little more to get your potatoes cooked. Reduce the heat and add either milk, half and half, or heavy cream. (Or any combination of the above).
Tonight I used Half and Half. Do not use the light version, because it has sweeteners like corn syrup in it. Just No.
I cut the Haddock roughly the size of the other seafood (small enough for a spoon to hold). Once the chowder is hot again, add in the smoked oysters, haddock, and whatever you desire. I used a can of crab meat and two cans of baby clams. We did have fresh seafood last weekend, but I did not manage to save any. Canned works very well for a week night dinner. It is fast, and very satisfying! I was going to use smoked Haddock, but I tried out one of those curbside pickup deals and they gave me frozen haddock. I didn’t discover it soon enough to go back. However, it may be just as well. Two smoked things might have been too much. Although the recipe I was imitating used both.
Do not let your chowder boil after you add in the milk or cream.
And once you add the seafood to the hot liquid, you really only need to stir it once and let it heat through. If you stir too much, you break up the seafood. Won’t hurt the taste, but doesn’t look as nice. a zest of lemon over the pot at the end and a few sprigs of fresh dill on the top of the bowls is great. And/or chopped green onion.
I was looking for wines to pair and was actually surprised that a cream based chowder can pair with some reds as well as whites! So, I put it to the test with our Antoniou, a really great Cabernet Savignon!.
We wanted to try a sparkling wine as well, but decided to save that one till closer to Christmas!!
I confess, I got my bread bowls today from Panera Bread. I didn’t have any sourdough starter on hand, and then my oven went out anyway! However, the chowder can be done in one pot on one burner in about 20-30 minutes.
Pro Tip: Onions make the flavor of many soups, sauces, stews and chowders. But a lot of people object to them. If it is a texture thing, and not an allergy, simply puree the onion–it will give you all the flavor with none of the big pieces that people (including me) hate! You don’t even ‘taste’ the onion in this recipe, but I guarantee you will notice a difference if you leave them out!
For some more recipes using wine as an ingredient, check out this page in my Cooking Food and Wine Category!
If you are not a seafood fan, the base of this chowder can be used to create a chicken and corn chowder, or ham and potato, as well. It all starts the same way! And actually the two wines I used would pair pretty well with either of those combinations, I think!
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