I am back among the living, having come out of the weeds and the zombie state of an imminent deadline. After a weekend spent celebrating the baby's twenty-first birthday, I have now settled back into my usual routine.
It is still winter here, despite the occasional robin sighting, so last night I decided on a warming meal of seafood chowder. I had eaten clam chowder lots of times, but didn't discover seafood chowder until a trip to Ireland in 2009. Our daughter went to the University of Limerick for a semester, and she and I spent about ten days driving along the west coast of Ireland before school started. Being cheap, I soon learned that a bowl of chowder, served with that wonderful Irish brown bread, made a fabulous, inexpensive meal. It was available almost everywhere, and I never had a bad bowl.
I recently watched Ina Garten make seafood chowder on Food Network, so when I saw wild-caught shrimp at the grocery store, I decided to try it. I followed her recipe as closely as I could, only substituting cod for monkfish, which was not available. This is a hearty, fishy soup, loaded with fish, shrimp, scallops, and crab meat.
I would also add more flavoring I think. Some recipe reviewers said they added a touch of cayenne. That might help. It was very good overall, but a little mild. The stock was flavored with thyme, onion, and garlic, but it just needed more ooomph. Maybe I didn't add enough salt and pepper. For the recipe, you can click the Food Network link, here.
It is still winter here, despite the occasional robin sighting, so last night I decided on a warming meal of seafood chowder. I had eaten clam chowder lots of times, but didn't discover seafood chowder until a trip to Ireland in 2009. Our daughter went to the University of Limerick for a semester, and she and I spent about ten days driving along the west coast of Ireland before school started. Being cheap, I soon learned that a bowl of chowder, served with that wonderful Irish brown bread, made a fabulous, inexpensive meal. It was available almost everywhere, and I never had a bad bowl.
I recently watched Ina Garten make seafood chowder on Food Network, so when I saw wild-caught shrimp at the grocery store, I decided to try it. I followed her recipe as closely as I could, only substituting cod for monkfish, which was not available. This is a hearty, fishy soup, loaded with fish, shrimp, scallops, and crab meat.
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| A pound of shrimp, half pound of scallops, a little more than a half pound of cod, and six ounces of crab meat |
There are vegetables, too: carrots, potatoes, celery, corn, and onion, but seafood is definitely the star of this chowder. The husband actually said he would like more potatoes, and I think I agree with him.
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| The vegetables simmering before the stock and seafood are added. |
I would also add more flavoring I think. Some recipe reviewers said they added a touch of cayenne. That might help. It was very good overall, but a little mild. The stock was flavored with thyme, onion, and garlic, but it just needed more ooomph. Maybe I didn't add enough salt and pepper. For the recipe, you can click the Food Network link, here.
