Seafood Chowder

SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Steps:

• Cut the shrimp, scallops, and monkfish into bite-sized pieces and place them in a bowl with the crabmeat.
• In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter; add the carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, and corn and saute over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are barely cooked, stirring occasionally. Add the flour; reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Add the Seafood Stock and bring to a boil. Add the seafood; reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 7 to 10 minutes, until the fish is just cooked. Add the heavy cream, if desired, and the parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
• Warm the oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the shrimp shells, onions, carrots, and celery and saute for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add 1 1/2 quarts of water, the white wine, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a sieve, pressing the solids. You should have approximately 1 quart of stock. You can make up the difference with water or wine if you need to.

SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Steps:

• Place 1/2 cup milk, cream cheese, and garlic in a large pot over low heat. Cook and stir until blended. Mix in soup, green onions, carrots, corn with liquid, potatoes, parsley, and remaining milk. Season with black pepper and cayenne pepper. Simmer 25 minutes. Do not boil.
• Mix the shrimp, scallops, crabmeat, calamari, and clams, and continue cooking 10 minutes, or until seafood is opaque.

SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Steps:

• Put the clams in a large, heavy Dutch oven, add about 4 cups water, then set over medium-high heat. Cover, and cook until clams have opened, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. (Clams that fail to open should be discarded.) Strain clam broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or doubled-up paper towels, and set aside. You should have 5 or 6 cups. Remove clams from shells, and set aside as well.
• Rinse out the pot, and return it to the stove. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter, and turn heat to medium-low. Add bacon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the pork has started to brown, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove pork from fat, and set aside.
• Add the dulse and the leeks to the fat, and cook, stirring frequently, until the leeks are soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, then stir in the carrots, parsnips, potatoes and wine, and continue cooking until wine has evaporated and the vegetables have just started to soften, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add enough clam broth to just cover them, approximately 4 to 5 cups, reserving the rest for another use. Add the thyme and the bay leaves.
• Partly cover the pot, and simmer gently until vegetables are tender, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop the clams into bits about the size of the bacon dice. When the vegetables are tender, add the cream, and stir in the chopped clams and reserved bacon. Add black pepper to taste. Let come to a simmer. (Do not let chowder come to a full boil.) Remove the thyme and the bay leaves, and discard.
• If serving right away, slip the fish fingers into the chowder, place the scallops on the surface and allow them all to cook into translucence in the heat, approximately 5-7 minutes. But chowder improves mightily if it sits overnight to cure. If you have the time, don't add the fish and scallops right away, but allow the chowder to chill in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat it to a bare simmer before adding and cooking them through. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve, garnished with the chopped parsley.