Smoky Fish Chowder

This was delicious but I made some changes: I used smoked eel instead of whitefish and subbed bulgarian yogurt for the milk. Started off with beef stock that had a touch of smoked salmon flavored vodka simmered in it then added jerusalem artichoke in place of the potato. Finally finished it with Gigante beans. Amazing - will make again. Just kidding made per recipe it was excellent.

I replaced the bacon with an equal portion of Trader Joes hot smoked salmon and replaced the thyme with saffron and the soup was delicious. ( Also added sourdough croutons).

Have now made this twice -- and now add about a pound of mussels, using their poaching stock as the basis for the soup and throwing the mussels back into the pot at the end. Everyone has loved it.

Here in Maine, the home of chowder, we know that real chowder IS thin. It is not a cream soup!

Wow wow... Made it last night and we really enjoyed it. I imprecisely scaled it up a little in volume so we could get 2 nights, and used h&h instead of milk, Kitchen Basics seafood stock (readily available), a decent Pinot Grigio (drink the rest!) for the vermouth. I chose cod, and also added in some halved dry pack scallops (1/2 lb.) and a can of crab claw meat to diversify the seafood content. Yum!

If you're looking to make the soup ahead of time it worked great for me going through step 2 and stopping and then reheating the soup and finishing step 3 when it was time for dinner.

Loved this incredibly versatile recipe and made it repeatedly. Tried the following with great success: Spanish Chorizo finely diced instead of bacon (eliminate step 1 but add before or with leeks step 2), 1/2 cup dry sherry instead of vermouth, good size pinch of saffron (made a tea) instead of thyme (added halfway through potato simmer), clam juice instead of fish stock. Cod is fantastic but so is salmon.

Warm the milk and add it slowly to prevent separation.

This was great. Others had me a paranoid about amount of fish so I upped the cod to a pound and added two cans of clams, adding that clam juice to the other 2 cups of clam juice I used instead of stock. Sautéed a cup of chopped mushrooms with the leeks and added sliced almonds on top for the final presentation. With bacon and 3 tbs of butter (!!) this is an occasional though scrumptious treat.

This chowder is the best flavored and easiest I've made. Instead of the frying the bacon, I used olive oil and fried diced pieces of a piece of smoked ham and this worked well. Key would be using a good fish stock which I was able to find (organic) locally as a liquid. Directions for cooking and flaking the cod worked very well. So far this chowder is the best use for cod that I have found. Am making a second pot and freezing it. We had fresh thyme from our garden. Bravo Melissa!

*Very* tasty! Tried it again with a few changes and I liked it even more:
1) 2 * the paprika
2) 1.5 * the fish stock
3) 5 sprigs thyme
4) 1 to 1.5 pounds added seafood (I used scallops & shrimp)

Made 5-6 servings.

I added clams and made fish stock out of some small mouthed bass I had caught. Also used the bass in the chowder. Also substituted cauliflower for potatoes and added some bok choi. Turned out nicely.

I'd recommend NOT leaving any bacon grease in when you move on to Step 2. Perhaps I estimated incorrectly, but it left my soup a little too greasy for my liking.

Fish chowder is best with smoked fish. Look around for smoked finnan haddie (a lightly smoked haddock). It makes all the difference in the world. In the summer, I get it in Stonington, ME and the rest of the year, they ship it frozen. Best chowder you'll ever make!

Kicked it up a notch using some crumbled smoked sable/white fish from my favorite neighborhood Jewish deli. Then added some medium, peeled, shrimp and cockles, and a tab of Kerry Gold Irish butter and fresh ground pepper, to finish, just before serving. Served with crisp home made garlicky Melba toast on the side. Everyone wanted more!

Used bluefish that I caught brined and smoked (maple) along with freshly caught blackfish (tog) chunks. I shredded the bluefish and left the tog in meaty chunks. Subbed clam juice for fish stock. Gotta go with the smoked fish, it's considerably better.