Chowder

Indulgent comfort food at its best. Serve with parsley oil to split the sauce and warmed crusty bread.

Ingredients – serves 4

• approximately 400-500g fish (smoked haddock and salmon shown here), skin removed and cut into chunks
• handful shelled muscles or raw prawns

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• 40g butter
  1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 leek, washed and finely sliced
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• Approx 100g bacon lardons, or a few rashers of streaky bacon, roughly chopped

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• 600ml poaching liquor or fish stock
• 200ml white wine
• 1 large potato, peeled and chopped into small cubes
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (plus extra for garnish)
• Maldon salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 200ml double cream (if using fish stock rather than poaching liquor, use 300ml cream)

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Method

1. Heat a large lidded pan on a medium heat and add the butter. Once it starts to foam, add the onion, leek, celery and carrot and fry for a few minutes until softened.
2. Turn the heat up a little and add the bacon and fry for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Then add the wine, before adding the poaching liquor* or fish stock and the potato, bring to the boil then simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes until potato is cooked through.
4. Then add the cream, parsley, fish and shellfish and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
5. Season generously and serve garnished with more fresh parsley.

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*poaching liquor

We regularly have poached haddock and when we do, I always reserve the milk that we poach the fish in and freeze it for dishes like this. Fish stock is a good substitute but if you enjoy your fish as we do, I can’t recommend this enough.