CHOWDAH!

The winter is not complete without a great seafood chowdah – I always start with a recipe i was given by my dear (and unfortunately late) friend Terri McConnell – who grew up in Portland, Maine.  i do tend to play with it each time i make it, primarily with different fish (didn’t find good scallops this time, so added crab) and spices – adding things like fresh grated nutmeg, fennel, clove and even curry.   This version was especially good with cod, monkfish, shrimp and crab and i love the last line of her recipe  “for a big kick sprinkle each bowl with crispy bacon fat crumbs” – as you can see i did so!

another great chowdah recipe (that i brought to Christmas with the kids a couple of years ago) which is completely different is one you can find the recipe for online at epicurious.  it has corn, sherry, lots more spices … but the tricky part is that it calls for chanterelle mushrooms (which i love).  what makes this a challenge is that dried chanterelle’s are kind of crap for the most part (at least those i’ve found), fresh ones are rarely available and expensive for a soup.  However, in belgium these are widely available and reasonably priced in a jar at the grocery stores.   What i’ve always done is to bring a jar home in my suitcase (or beg Elli to play “mule”) which at least begs ONE good pot of soup.  If anyone knows where you can buy chanterelles in a jar, please let us know!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/crab-and-corn-chowder-with-bacon-and-chanterelle-mushrooms-107620