Seafood Chowder

The winds of winter have been howling the last few days so my soup pot made another appearance on my stove-top.  I was so warm and cozy watching cooking shows with my kids that I didn't even think about what to make for dinner. Then I saw corn chowder being made on TV and I that got me thinking of some comforting chowder for dinner. I was lucky enough to have the ingredients for a wonderful Seafood Chowder and ran into the kitchen to make it.  Since I decided at almost 4PM in the afternoon to whip this soup up and post it as a recipe for the blog I was rushing to get it done fast so I could take my pictures before the sun set. I was really lucky this soup came together in less than 30 minutes.  Then I bundled up and I headed outside with a steaming bowl of this wonderfully fragrant soup to take my photos on the deck.  There there I was freezing like a popsicle snapping pictures of this hot bowl of soup and wishing I could have jump into it to keep warm (and probably looking quite ridiculous to my neighbors).  Yes.. I agree, I'm a little crazy when it comes to getting my "glamor" shots for my recipes. I'm certainly glad I had made a steamy bowl of chowder to photograph because freezing outside was all worth it when I came back inside and got to warm up with this yummy soup.   I highly recommend the soup.. I don't highly recommend going outside on a 30 degree day with 20mph winds to snap photos of the soup. :)

 

Ingredients:
2 cans of minced clams in their juice
1lb mild white flaky fish  cut into cubes(I used cod)
1/2 lb of cleaned shrimp
6 slices of bacon (diced)
1 medium onion minced
1 green bell pepper minced
2 large carrots minced
2 stalks of minced celery
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
4 cups of chicken broth
3-4 cups of water
2 cups of diced white potatoes
chicken bullion as needed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp red chili flakes (or to taste)
1/3 cup of all purpose flour
2 cups of half and half

Note: I recommend you take the tails off the shrimp before adding it to the soup.

Directions:

In a large soup pot, fry up your bacon until crispy.  Drain the bacon and set it aside.  Reserve the bacon drippings to fry the vegetables.

I recommend you use a food processor and "chop" your carrots, onions, bell pepper and celery to a fine dice. I wanted the vegetables to give flavor and give some "body" to the soup without actually having to be eaten in bite size pieces.

Add these vegetables to the bacon drippings in the pot and fry until softened.

Next add your dried thyme, salt, pepper, chili flakes and flour.  Cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring.

Now add your two cans of clams with their juice.  Cook for a minute.

Now add your water, chicken broth and diced potatoes.  Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are almost tender.  You will want to season the broth again because the potatoes will absorb some of the salt.  I used the chicken bullion above to season the broth.   When the potatoes are almost cooked through add your fish. 

Finally add the shrimp and  2 cups of half and half.  Allow to boil for 2-3 minutes.  Taste for seasoning one last time and your soup should be done. 
Serve hot. Enjoy.

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