Fish Chowder ?

[Bubblesmum]

Hi,

Any one have a good recipe for a hearty fish chowder? And can I use frozen fish in it - would I have to thaw out the fish first?

And along the same lines, how do you make fish stock?

Thanks!

No idea about making fish stock I'm afraid.

I can however, make a very simple smoked fish chowder. Poach a smoked haddock (or cod) fillet, or two in milk until just cooked, remove fish with slotted spoon. Soften a finely chopped onion in butter, add a diced potato, the cooking milk, and a little stock, simmer until potato is soft. Remove from heat, whizz up as much as you like. add some chopped parsley and ground black pepper. You can also add sweetcorn, or clams or whatever to it.

Smoked Haddock Chowder

25g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
400g potatoes, peeled and chopped
725 ml fish stock
200g uncooked smoked haddock, skinned and flaked
75 ml single cream
salt cayenne pepper

To Garnish
1 egg, hard boiled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Melt the butter and cook three quarters of the onion and 225g of the potatoes gently for 5 minutes in a covered saucepan, without colouring.

Add the stock, cover, bring to the boil until the vegetables are tender.

Cool a little, then puree in a liquidiser.

Return the soup to a clean pan, add the remaining vegetables, cover and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.

Add the fish, stir in the cream and add salt and cayenne to taste. Take care as the fish is quite salty already.

Add more water if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.

Serve and garnish with chopped hard boiled egg and chopped fresh parsley.

This is the recipe from the New Covent Garden Soup Company Book that i was given by someone who doesnt love soups the same way as i do and it had sat unused on her shelf for quite a while. I made this last weekend and it was Scrummy - the fish doesnt need 'cooking' (over-cooked fish is blurgh) just adding to the steaming mixture at the end seemed to do the trick. I didnt bother with the garnishes as i am not a garnish type person, plus i wanted to eat it straight away!

ooh, forgot to add that i didnt use fish stock, just used kallo vegetable stock cubes instead.