A Month of Soups: Fish Chowdah

Let’s use up that other half-pound of firm fish you bought earlier this week. What? You used it in another dinner? Well, good for you, Heart-Healthy One!

Now get back to the store and buy some more. Just a half-pound for this soup. Also make sure you have some shrimp and a can of clams if you can’t find fresh ones.

Chowders are satisfying dishes because they are rich and creamy, even if they are not heavy on fat, like this one. If you want to substitute Half-and-Half for the evaporated milk, feel free, but omit the butter if you do so.

We’re also going to use up some potatoes in this one, so I hope you have some lovely ones on hand. Yukon Gold are great, but feel free to use any potato you have on hand. Remember how to bake them? If not, read the recipe for “Loaded Baked Potato Soup” from yesterday.

You may have noticed I’m not big on adding salt to foods. Add in salt and/or pepper to your taste to any of these dishes. Most foods have enough natural sodium, that once you get accustomed to it, you will find you rarely need to salt foods.

Fish Chowdah (serves 6-8)

5 large russet (or 15-20 Yukon Gold) potatoes, baked

2 T olive oil

1 large onion, diced

½ pound firm-flesh fish, bite-size chunks

6 oz clams, chopped

12 large shrimp, chopped

2 cans evaporated milk

1 milk can of water

1 T butter

1 can corn

1 green onion, sliced diagonally

Bake potatoes. Mash half pretty well; rough chop the other half to small bite-size chunks. Set aside.

In a Dutch oven or large pan, sauté onion in olive oil. Remove when translucent. Add fish, shrimp, and clams. Cook for 3-5 minutes, turning to get color on fish. Add onion back in. Stir. Immediately add milk, water, and butter. On low heat, bring chowder to a simmer. Add corn. Bring back to simmer. Serve garnished with green onion. Serve with oyster or water crackers.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up! I told you he likes potatoes. Any variant I do of this soup is a hit with him.

A Month of Soups: Seafood Bisque

Sorry about not posting yesterday. But that just means two soups today! Today's soup is one you can fancy up with additional seafood to add more richness and flavor or just keep it simple.

Remember those two cups of tomato-basil soup I told you to reserve. Find ‘em! If you can’t find the soup, you have two options, as I see it: make another batch or buy some canned tomato-basil soup. Them’s yer choices!

But, I am assuming you did save those two cups, so let’s use them up for our soup-du-jour: Seafood Bisque.

I’m not normally a fan of tomatoes and fish together, but of course I’ll eat anything. Still, I don’t normally prepare fish that way. I make an exception for my seafood bisque.

What is a bisque, you might be asking. Bisques traditionally are thick, creamy soups with seafood, especially lobster.

My seafood bisque is for the 99%--no lobster, but, gosh, if you can get some, go for it!

Seafood Bisque (serves 2-3)

8 oz fish like monkfish, sea bass, mahi mahi, or other firm-fleshed fish

2 c tomato-basil soup

¼ t red pepper flakes

1 can Mexicorn

1 can evaporated milk, undiluted

Grill or broil fish to get a nice brown on the edges. Cook until just done. Remove from heat and cut into bite-sized chunks. Set aside. Pour tomato-basil soup, red pepper flakes, Mexicorn, and evaporated milk into blender. Pulse six times to blend. Pour mixture into medium pan and heat uncovered over low heat. When bisque is hot, add in fish, stir, and serve immediately.

Variation: to the grilled fish, add in 8 oz of other seafood like shrimp, lobster, crab, or clams. Makes for a richer flavor and varied textures. It will serve more people, too.

DH’s Rating: 3.5 Tongues Up. What he liked best was that this was enough for the two of us without a lot of leftovers! The freezer is filling up.