This is the official Chowder Chowdown recipe from last year’s Whalefest. We’ve scaled the quantities down a little, since we’re guessing you’re not planning to make 40 quarts of chowder at home! Yes—chefs actually have to prepare that much to feed every hungry event attendee!
Ingredients:
- 1 whole crab
- 12–15 spot prawns (or large shrimp), peeled
- 1 cup diced lingcod or other firm white fish
- 2 cups fingerling potatoes, diced (roughly 6–8 small potatoes)
- 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
- ¼ medium yellow onion, diced (about ½ cup)
- ¼ stalk celery, diced (about 2 tbsp)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ tsp dried dill
- ¾ tsp summer savoury (or thyme)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 4 cups (1 L) light cream (10%)
- 1 tbsp rendered pork fat or bacon fat
- ½ tbsp mango-turmeric hot sauce
- ¾ tsp honey
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions:
- Boiling the whole crab in salted water for 8-10 minutes. Remove meat and set aside. Simmer shells with all your vegetable scraps (carrot, onion, and celery) in 4 cups of water for 20 minutes. Strain and reserve the stock.
- Roast the diced potatoes with pork fat, salt, and pepper at 400°F for 20 minutes or until golden.
- In a large pot pot sauté onion, carrot, celery, and 3 cloves garlic in olive oil until soft. add mutter and melt. Then stir in flour to form a roux and cook 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in 2 cups of seafood stock and 4 cups of cream.
- Stir in the roasted potatoes, hot sauce, honey and dill and summer savoury, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Finish by adding your fish, prawns and crab meat and simmer 2-3 minutes until just cooked. Seasons with salt and pepper, and enjoy!
Tip: Pair with some buttered homemade focaccia!
