Seafood Chowder

Seafood Chowder

Go ahead and throw a few catfish chunks in too.

One of the disadvantages of living in the Chicago area is that Chicago is so far from the coasts. You can obtain just about any kind of fresh seafood you want in the area, but it is so darned expensive. Now, I’m not cheap ... ok, maybe I am, but that’s besides the point. What I’m getting at, is that I often find a recipe for a chowder or a gumbo that I’d love to try, but they instruct me to buy fresh clams, whole crabs, lobsters and several varieties of fresh fish. By the time I purchase all of that, I would have spent so much, that I might as well fly to Louisiana and order it from a restaurant. 

I do love it, however. In fact, whenever I am in South Louisiana, I order fresh seafood every day. I’ve gone whole weeks down there eating only creatures that live in water and the only air-breathing meat I consumed was in a turtle or alligator stew. When I’m there, I can’t get enough of it.

Lately, I’ve been adapting seafood recipes to use ingredients that I can easily afford in the Chicago metro area. Instead of fresh clams, I use canned, whole clams. I also make use of inexpensive frozen seafood. 

I’ve always loved spicy, tomato based chowders, think ‘Manhattan Style’. This version was adapted from chef Steve Sicinski’s recipe which I found in Food & Wine magazine (March 2011, page 38). I’ve provided the link in case you want to compare my version to his. 

Olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 dried ancho chilies, chopped without seeds

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 cup white wine

1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes

1 quart of vegetable broth

1 cup of cream

2 cans of (whole clams or chopped if you can’t find the whole), with their liquid

3 large potatoes, cubed

10 oz. frozen roasted corn

1-1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. thyme

1 lb. frozen tail-off deveined shrimp

1 lb. frozen seafood mix (the one I use is scallops shrimp and calamari)

salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste

Preparation

Heat a large Dutch oven and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add one of the chopped onions, two stalks of chopped celery and the chopped ancho peppers. Stir and cook until the onion starts to brown and then add the fennel seeds. Add the wine, canned tomatoes and the vegetable broth. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream.

Using a blender, purée the soup in batches and place it in a large bowl. Once all the soup has been puréed, rinse out the Dutch oven and wipe it dry. Add the canned clams and their liquid to the puréed soup and set the bowl aside.

Once again heat the Dutch oven and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Add the cubed potatoes and fry them until they are golden brown. Add the remaining chopped onion and celery along with the chopped bell pepper. Cook until the onions start to soften and add the roasted corn, smoked paprika and thyme. Stir for a few minutes more and then pour the puréed soup back in. Bring it to a boil and add the shrimp and seafood mix. Simmer another ten minutes, or until all the seafood is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Taste the chowder and add salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning to adjust the seasoning. Turn off the heat and let it rest for ten minutes before serving.

Serving

This chowder is pretty versatile and will go as a first course with many entrées. One thing it needs, however, is freshly baked bread and butter. After that you can use your imagination. I suggest serving a chilled Vouvray with the chowder.