Seafood Chowder

As parents we did something wrong along the way. From an early age our lovely daughter used to walk into a restaurant and say "Do they serve crab here" or to direct quote "Does this place serve crab?"

Our response "not on the children's menu kid."

Having said that we want to encourage her to eat diverse foods but seafood, especially shellfish can be pretty pricey. One way around this is to buy Marinara mix (I think Americans call this mixed seafood). It usually contains shrimp, salmon, calamari rings, a white-fleshed fish and mussels.

I use it for pasta marinara and in seafood pies. It's great for a seafood pizza topping. 

The easiest way is in a seafood chowder. I made one for lunch this week.

Seafood Chowder

olive oil and butter to cook (You need butter or the soup won't thicken)

1 onion diced

1 carrot diced

2 celery sticks diced

1 teaspoon dill

1 garlic clove crushed

6 small potatoes or 3 large potatoes diced

1 tin corn

1/3 cup flour

3 litres of seafood stock (can use chicken if you like)

500g Marina mix

1/2 cup cream

1. Heat butter and oil in pan and then add next 5 ingredients. Cook 5-10 minutes until onion translucent.

2. Add corn and flour and stir till combine, making sure flour well distributed.

3. Add stock to cover veggies (if not covered add water). Cook till veggies soft.

4. Turn off liquid and add seafood. Leave 10 minutes and it will poach in soup mix.

5. Use a stick blender to puree to preferred consistency - you may like it smooth or a bit chunky like traditional chowder.

6. Return to the heat till hot and stir through cream. Season to taste.

Enjoy!