Island Style Salmon Chowder

Ingredients:
3 slices thick cut bacon
15 oz canned diced tomatoes
5 1/2 cups fish stock
1 lb cooked salmon, cut into chunks
2 cups peeled, diced white potatoes
3/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup dark rum, optional
2 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 large shallot, minced
1 green onion, diced
1 or 2 Scotch Bonnet pepper(s), minced
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Directions:
Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. Crumble the bacon and set aside. In a large pot, saute the onion, shallot, garlic, pepper, potatoes, celery and carrot in a couple tablespoons of bacon grease until the onions are softened and translucent. Add the tomato, spices, bacon, broth, Worcestershire sauce and rum. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat. Simmer until the potatoes are nearly fork tender. Stir in the thyme, green onion and parsley and salmon. Cook until the salmon is heated through. Discard the bay leaf prior to serving.

My thoughts:

This recipe was somewhat inspired by Bermuda's fish chowder and the conch chowders popular in the Caribbean. I've been researching vacations (oh, for a break from cooking and dish washing) and of course, that involves researching the local cuisines. While salmon isn't the traditional fish found in these local chowders, the fact that I had a pound of it leftover after another meal made me give it ago. It worked really well! Salmon is "meaty" enough that it doesn't breakdown in the soup and its richness contrasted well with the lush spice of the broth. It is also the perfect chowder as we creep towards warmer weather, it isn't as heavy as most chowders and everyone knows spicy foods cool you off!

Autumn Vegetable Chowder

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups cubed potato
1 cup small broccoli florets
3/4 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon white pepper


Directions:
In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes or until they are soft and translucent. Do not let them brown. Add the cauliflower, spices and broth. Bring broth to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce to a simmer and cook 20-30 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender and easily cut, stirring occasionally. The broth will not totally cover the cauliflower but don't worry- stirring will be enough to ensure the caulflower cooks through. Meanwhile, bring some water to a boil. Add the broccoli, celery and potato and cook until fork tender. Drain and set aside.

Using a regular blender or immersion blender, blend the cauliflower mixture until smooth. If you are using a regular blender, you will have to do this in steps, pour the blended soup in to another large pot as you go. If using an immersion blender, you can blend the soup right in the same pot. Once blended, add the milk, potatoes, corn and broccoli. Return to heat and allow to simmer another 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir and serve.

Note: If a large amount of broth evaporated (if the cauliflower looks virtually dry)you might want to add about 1/2 cup of broth to the mixture after blending. You don't want the cauliflower base to be too thick.

My thoughts:

Chowder tradionally has some sort of seafood in it and a heavy, creamy base but I decided to go in a slightly different route and lighten it up by using cauliflower puree and just a touch of milk.

The inspiration was the Winter White Cauliflower Soup I created a while back. That soup was a suprise hit-rich and creamy without a lot of fat and not too overtly cauliflowery. I didn't want to make the same thing over again so I thought: chowder! The base is still a creamy cauliflower (seriously, no one can ever guess it was cauliflower in the soup!) but I've added some vegetables to round it out. What I love is that even though it is vegetable-heavy it isn't heavy or vegetal tasting just really homey and comforting.

Corn, Potato & Leek Chowder

Ingredients:
kernels from 4 ears of corn
3 stalks celery, diced
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
3 carrots, diced
2 leeks, sliced thin
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon sage leaf
salt
pepper

Directions:
In a large pot, heat butter and oil. Add carrots, corn and leeks. Cook covered, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove cover and add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then lower heat and cook until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

My thoughts:

This is another recipe that really highlights fresh ingredients. The subtle flavors of celery, carrot and corn really shine. I used milk in this recipe instead of the heavy cream usually present in chowder, this gives it a lighter mouth feel that I really think works well and doesn't overpower the veggies.

Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

8 strips bacon
3 cups chopped onions
� teaspoon cayenne pepper
� teaspoon hot paprika
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
3 cups Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 cups fresh corn, reserve cobs


Directions:

In large pan, cook bacon until crisp, then drain and crumble. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and paprika. In the same pan you cooked the bacon in, saut� chicken breast. Remove, add onions and saut� until soft. Meanwhile, in a large pot, boil stock, chicken breasts and corn cobs. Remove corn cobs and chicken; add onion, garlic, potatoes, bay leaf and thyme. Cut up chicken into bit sized pieces, add to broth, along with the bacon. Cook uncovered until the potatoes were tender about 10-15 minutes. Add cream and corn. Cook until almost boiling, discard bay leaf and serve.