Chowder

Merriam-Webster defines Chowder as "a soup or stew of seafood (such as clams or fish) usually made with milk or tomatoes, salt pork, onions, and other vegetables (such as potatoes),"

That's pretty close to what I have made, but the definition does not go into just how heartwarming, wholesome, and gratifying Chowder is.

Method

Fry up some bacon in your stew pot. I added butter because there was not enough grease for the amount of vegetables I planned on adding.

Here are the before mentioned vegetables. I diced up a large onion, four stalks of celery, and a large carrot. I will use the potatoes in the background later.

Rosemary, thyme, garlic and a single bay leaf.

Minced up the herbs fine.

Frozen cod, cubed. I used a pound and a half.

A pound of pre-cooked shrimp, cut into bite sized pieces.

I love this brand of salmon. It isn't slimy like most canned salmon is, and it has a nice smokey flavor that shows up a tiny bit in the finished chowder.

Be sure to use the oil too, lots of flavor in there.

Dump the onion in with the bacon and the bacon grease. I did not reserve back any of the grease...again, because there are a whole lot more vegetables to come and I will need it.

After the onions started to turn translucent, I added the diced carrots and celery. I let that sauté until the carrots started to turn soft.

Once the vegetables and bacon are mushy, make a "well" in the center.

If you are running low on grease, add some butter to the "well." This is where the garlic will go so that it can cook for about 30 seconds. Once you can smell the garlic, it is time to stop cooking it by adding your stock or broth.

I added a quart of chicken broth and then brought it up to a mid simmer.

Once you reach a simmer, add the potatoes.

Cook them at a simmer until they are soft.

Once the potatoes are soft, add the fish. Since the salmon and shrimp are already cooked and the cod cooks fast, this stage will be quick.

Fish in the broth, stir and bring back up to the mid simmer you had before.

A half cup of heavy cream and a stick of butter. Since I did not make a roux for this soup, I will use these two ingredients to thicken the end product. Not as good as a roux, but the butter gives the final product a good flavor and a great texture.

I added the zest and juice from one small lime. This is something you do not need to add, but I had a lime hanging around and its a nice bright flavor to cut through the cream flavor.

Bringing everything back up to temperature.

The final step is to serve it.