Siddy's Sword Coast Seafood Chowder

Ingredients

• 8-quart/8L soup pot

• 1 lb/450g bacon

• About 5 cloves of minced garlic

• 2 bay leaves

• Olive oil

• Equal parts flour to bacon fat

• 1 quart/1L broth of choice

• 1 large carrot, diced

• 1 head of celery, diced

• 1 medium yellow onion, diced

• 1 leek (clean thoroughly), sliced into ½ in/1.25cm rings

• 3 large potatoes, diced

• 2 deseeded Fresno chilis (optional), diced

• 1 bottle white wine (replace with a 2nd quart/L of  broth for deglazing  if not using wine)

• 1 quart/1L table cream or unsweetened heavy/whipping cream

• 6 fillets thawed/fresh descaled & deboned white fish

• 1 package of pollack/imitation crab

• 1 bag of seafood medley, thawed/fresh

• ½ lemon’s worth zest & juice

• Dill to garnish

• Salt & pepper

Preparation

1. Cut bacon into .5in/1.25cm square pieces. Heat a large soup pot (minimum 8 quart/8 L) to medium-high. Render bacon bits in the pot until crispy. Remove bacon bit with a slotted spoon and place in a small, paper-towel-lined bowl off to the side. These will be used for garnish.
   

2. Add equal parts flour to the rendered bacon fat in the pot. Lower the heat to medium. Continue stirring until there are no lumps and the roux turns a deeper brown. Add minced garlic and ¼ bottle of wine / reserved stock. This helps lift the flavourful bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Give this a minute to cook off some of the alcohol, then remove the pot from the heat. Add 2 bay leaves.
   

3. In a new pan, drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add onion, carrots & potatoes. Cook over medium-high heat until carrots & potatoes begin to soften slightly. Deglaze with wine/reserved stock. Season with salt & pepper.  Move half-cooked trio of vegetables into the pot. They will continue cooking.
   

4. In the pan you just used, drizzle in another 2 tbsp of olive oil, then add celery, leeks, and optional chilli. Deglaze with wine/reserved stock. Season with salt & pepper. Once they become slightly soft, add them to the soup pot. Return the soup pot to the medium-high heat. Add the remainder of the stock & wine.
   

5. Drop the heat to medium-low. Add zest & juice of ½ lemon. Give it a moment to incorporate. Add cream and stir. Add white fish, seafood medley & imitation crab/pollock. Be sure to retain and add any fish brine from the bag. Using a wooden spoon, break up the filets. Cook until the white fish turns from shiny and translucent to opaque. This will take 3-10 minutes, depending on how crowded the soup is.  Make sure that if you use shrimp, they are pink to indicate they are done. Carrots and potatoes will be tender.
   

6. You can serve immediately or the next day. Letting it rest will allow the flavours to mingle and set up. Serve with fresh dill and bacon bits.

Ready in 90 minutes

Serves 8-12 people

Tips

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), baked or simmered dishes that contain alcohol will retain 40% of the original amount after 15 minutes of cooking, 35% after 30 minutes and 25% after an hour. But there’s no point at which all of the alcohol disappears. Baking or simmering an alcohol-containing dish for 2.5 hours will still leave 5% of the alcohol content behind.