Over a week ago, I had the great opportunity to cook for a wonderful couple (Joyce and Mike) from Minneapolis. We planned a fun evening to play Games Against Humanity, and boy what a hoot the evening was!
On the dinner menu along with this Seafood Chowder we had:
- vegan cheese and pate
- kale caesar slaw
- phylo pastry pear tart with cashew cream.
The Verdict of This Seafood Chowder
I was very impressed of the simplistic yet so wonderful tasty broth that I used for the stock of this chowder. This was my first time to use shrimp shells as a stock. And boy they did deliver an A+ job I tell ya. I don’t think I will ever throw away shrimp shells ever again!
Also, this was my first time to cook with monkfish and everyone was impressed with the fish. When I was originally shopping at Wholefoods for all of the ingredients, I asked if I should substitiute monkfish with halibut as I was not sure about using it. The seafood department fella said that I should in fact use monkfish as it is tougher and meatier just like lobster and halibut would not be ideal as it would flake and fall apart in my chowder. I was so happy I took his advise, because monkfish was a superstar of the dish. The fish was definitely meaty, very tasty white fish and held together quite well in the chowder.
And the chowder overall was good as ever, I used the same recipe I have done in the past as I did with my Smoked Salmon Chowder with the addition of the homemade shrimp stock, shrimp. monkfish and scallops.
Seafood Chowder Ingredients
- 200 grams diced Pancetta (or smoked bacon)
- 2 large shallots, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 carrots (approx 1 cup), diced small
- 2 celery (approx 1 cup), diced small
- 1 serano chile, seeded, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper (approx 3/4 cup), diced small
- 1 yellow pepper (approx 3/4 cup), diced small
- 4 medium red potatoes (approx 2.5 – 3 cups), diced small
- 5 cups fish broth (recipe below)
- 1 cup white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
- 3 plum tomatoes, diced small
- 2 cups almond milk
- ¼ teaspoon crushed chilis
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and divined (keep shells for stock)
- 1/2 pound scallops
- 1/2 pound monkfish
- 3 teaspoon chives, finely sliced
- dash of salt and pepper
Shrimp Stock Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- shells from 1 pound large shrimp
- 2 cups yellow onions
- 2 carrots unpeeled and chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup good white wine ( I used a Chardonnay)
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
Shrimp Stock Instructions:
- Warm the oil in a stockpot over medium heat.
- Add the shrimp shells, onions, carrots, and celery and sauté 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, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.
- Strain through a sieve, pressing the solids. You should have approximately 1 quart of stock. You can make up the difference with water or wine if you need to.
Seafood Chowder Instructions:
- Cut the seafood into bite sized pieces and put aside in a bowl.
- In a large pan, sauté pancetta/bacon over medium heat until brown and crisp, approximately 3-5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to plate and allow to rest.
- Add in shallot, garlic, carrot, celery, serano, crushed chile, red & yellow peppers and potatoes. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in fish broth, 1 cup wine, tomatos, bring to a boil. Add almond milk. Reduce heat, to medium-low and simmer for at least 15 -25 minutes or till potatoes are semi soft.
- 10 minutes before serving, bring soup back up to almost boil.
- Add the seafood (shrimp, scallops, monkfish); reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 7 to 10 minutes, until the fish is just cooked.
- Add lemon juice, thyme and bacon to pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Ladle soup in bowls
- Garnish with chives.
Original link on where I got the ideal to incorporate my chowder recipe with seafood and shrimp stock: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/seafood-chowder-recipe.html?oc=linkback