Sunday, January 14, 2018

Jen Learned How to Make Seafood Chowder “aka West Coasters think this is the best chowder ever”






Jen Learned How to Make Seafood Chowder “aka West Coasters think this is the best chowder ever”

I was looking for a family recipe for Seafood Chowder. My family members make killer chowder. One side makes a thicker chowder that sticks to your ribs. One small bowl and you are stuffed. The other side makes a thinner chowder which is equally delicious. I decided I wanted to try something in between. After being schooled by my uncle on how he generally makes his (he has no recipe), reading my aunt's recipe for the thicker chowder, and doing a bit of research on the “Cape Breton Cook Book” Facebook group, I thought I had a good grasp on how to make a chowder.


I made a test batch with some less expensive seafood, tested it out on my ever-willing Husband and the Quality Control tester (the fluffy black Lab), and it was a hit. I was having some neighbours over for a get together a couple of days later, when I would make the chowder again, only with what I would consider traditional seafood chowder ingredients, lobster, scallops, clams and shrimp. Shrimp is probably the least traditional, but we like shrimp. I couldn’t find any good mussels otherwise I would have added those as well.

Servings: 24

Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients:
5 Cooked Lobster (tails and claw meat cut into bite size pieces)
1 Large Bag of Shrimp (cooked, peeled, tail off)
30-40 Scallops (cut into bite size pieces)
2 cans of Baby Oysters
8 Cups Water
10 Large Carrots
4 Stalks of Celery
1 Large Onion
10 Medium Potatoes
1 cup Water
2 TBSP Old Bay Seasoning
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Pepper
1.5 L Coffee Cream (10%)
1.5 cup plus ¼ cup Butter (use real salted butter…don’t substitute margarine)
1 cup dried potato flakes buttery flavored (don’t get a flavored one)…(ps this is the secret ingredient)

Fry the Lobster:
Add cooked lobster and ¼ cup butter into hot pan.
Fry lobster in the butter for about 5 minutes.
Butter will turn a bit red, and lobster will turn an orange color.
Taste test lobster, but don’t eat it all!
Put aside.

Veggies:
Peel carrots
Dice carrots and onions into small pieces
Slice celery thinly
Add carrots, onions, celery and 1.5 cups of butter to a large stock pot
This will be the pot you will make the chowder in so make sure it’s large enough (like this one)
Turn burner to between high and medium
Carefully cook the carrots, onions and celery until they are soft (about 20 minutes)
Make sure you stir often so they don’t burn to the bottom

Potatoes:
Peel potatoes
Cut into bite size pieces
Put in microwave proof bowl with 1 cup water
Cover with saran wrap
Cook in microwave on high for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft
Put aside

Seafood Stock:
Boil 8 cups water in a separate pot
Add scallops, shrimp and drained oysters
Add 1 TBSP of Old Bay Seasoning
Boil for 20 minutes

Putting it all together:

Once the veggies have become soft you are ready to start assembling the chowder
You will need a million spoons to taste test

Turn the burner to medium
Carefully remove the seafood from the stock and add to the large pot with the veggies
Add the fried lobster
Add the cooked potatoes (with cooking liquid, which will aid in thickening)
Carefully add the stock from the seafood to the pot (the stock should bring the liquid about up to the top of the other ingredients).
Add 1 TBSP of Old Bay seasoning
Add Salt & Pepper
Let this come to a boil, stirring often to ensure it doesn’t burn to bottom
Let boil for about 10 minutes
Taste test the broth. It should be flavorful, not overly salty or peppery.
Add more salt, pepper or old bay to taste.
This is where I use some of the million spoons.

About 5 minutes before you are ready to serve, add coffee cream to a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes until lukewarm (this is a super important step, if you add the cream in cold it will separate).

Add the warmed coffee cream to the stock
Taste again, add more spices if needed
Add 1 cup of flaked potatoes to thicken the broth

Enjoy with some home-made bread, rolls or biscuits
Eat within a couple of days
Delicious the next day!

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