Seafood Chowder

I was honoured to be invited to be a judge on the panel for the PEI Potato Chowder Championships, at last years PEI International Shellfish Festival. I got to try a lot of chowder dishes that weekend, twenty five to be precise! This led me on a quest to perfect my own chowder recipe at home, this recipe is easy to follow, and a pretty darn tasty way to utilize some of the beautiful new potatoes, seafood and herbs that surround us on Prince Edward Island at the moment. Enjoy!

Ingredients

50 g butter

1 onion, finely diced

1 celery stick, finely diced

1 medium carrot, finely diced

500 ml hot fish or vegetable stock

250 ml heavy cream 

200 g baby new potatoes, halved

150 g skinless haddock, diced

100 g smoked bacon, diced

50 g cooked mussel meat

100 g lobster meat

1 x 198 g tins sweetcorn, drained

2 tbsp. freshly chopped tarragon

1bsp freshly chopped chives 

Salt & Pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat and gently sauté the bacon, onion, carrot and celery, about 10min.

Add in the stock and, then bring to the boil. Add new potatoes, then simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Stir in haddock, sweetcorn and seasoning. Simmer until fish is cooked – about 3-5 minutes. Carefully stir through the cream, add in the cooked lobster and mussel meat, then the tarragon and simmer until hot. Check the seasoning. Garnish with chopped chives and serve.