Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Nova Scotia Seafood Chowder Recipe

As New Year's Day approaches, my family has decided to partake of a seafood dinner, including Seafood Chowder. As my wife's family is from Nova Scotia, then it's only natural that their recipe comes from that province. For much of its history, Nova Scotia's fisheries were at the heart of its economy and you can still find plenty of delicious seafood there. Even Rappie Pie, which we now make with chicken and pork, was once sometimes made with clams.Every time I visit Nova Scotia, I'll enjoy tasty lobster, fish & chips, fried clams and more.

Let me provide you one version of a recipe for Nova Scotia Seafood Chowder. There are plenty of alternative versions out there, and you can feel free to make any alterations you wish.

Ingredients
2 cups of Lobster meat
1 pound of White Fish fillets
1 pound of Scallops
1 pound of Clams or Mussels (or a combination)
4 cups of peeled & diced Potatoes
1/2 cup of chopped Onions
1/4 cup of Butter
2 tablespoons of Flour
1 cup of Water
1 cup of Dry Sherry
4 cups of Heavy Cream
3 cups of Milk
1 teaspoon of Salt
1 pinch of Cayenne Pepper

The listed seafood is only a recommendation and you can feel feel to change the amounts, omit certain seafood or add other types. The basic idea is to use a variety of seafood, providing a diversity of flavors and textures.

Directions:
1. Cut all of the seafood, if necessary, into bite-sized pieces.
2. In a large sauce pan, saute the onions in butter until they are tender. Then stir in the flour and cook for about a minute.
3. Add the potatoes and then enough water until they are covered. Bring that to a boil and continue to cook the potatoes under they are tender.
4. Add the white fish and scallops and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add the lobster, mussels/clams, sherry, cream, milk and salt & pepper. Stir well and simmer about 10 minutes.

Makes about 12 servings.

2 comments:

Chris Carpenter said...

Your version seems quite easy to make, Richard! That being said, have you tried pre-cooking the shellfish with lemon juice? Then you can use the stock instead of plain water, so you can enrich the seafood flavor of your chowder. Anyway, thanks for sharing!

Chris Carpenter @ Domenico's Monterey

Richard Auffrey said...

Chris, thanks very much for the tip and will try that next time.