Show #108

Truly a "Meal in a Bowl" this beautiful dish is so much more than a soup. It's great.

Ingredients:

1/4 lb salt pork or good quality smoked bacon

1 qt onions, halved lengthwise, cut 1' chunk

3 tbsp unsalted butter

4 bay leaves

fresh basil/thyme/chives

2 tbsp roasted garlic puree, see recipe

3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, washed & peeled

1 qt freshwater fish stock, see recipe

4 lbs whitefish, filleted, reserve bones for stock if making

1 1/2 cups creme fraiche or heavy cream

lemon juice, to taste

sea salt, black pepper to taste

large branded oyster crackers, see recipe

basil compound butter, see recipe

Method:

If necessary cut the rind from the salt pork and cut the meat into a 3/8 inch dice. If the pork is dry or more than mildly salty, blanch the pork for about 5 minutes in 2 quarts of fresh water. Rinse the blanched salt pork in cold water and drain. Saute the salt pork over a low heat, stirring occasionally, to render the flavorful fat and produce crisp pork cracklings about 10 minutes or so. When the cracklings are crisp remove them from the skillet, drain and reserve.

Add the onions to the rendered pork fat, stir in the butter and drop in the bay leaves. Turn up the heat to medium and sweat the onions for 7-8 minutes, until they are soft, translucent and minimally colored. Add the herbs. Split the potatoes once lengthwise and cut the halves (keeping the cut side down) into half moon shapes about 1/2 inch thick. Add the unwashed potato slices and the roasted garlic puree. Cover with the fish stock and season with the salt and pepper.

Simmer the chowder base for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are just cooked and the broth is rich and flavorful.

Add the creme fraiche to the base and stir to blend. Submerge the pieces of whitefish into the base making sure the broth covers the fish and gently simmer the chowder another 5 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through. Taste the chowder for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Drizzle in the lemon juice to taste, top with the compound butter and garnish with the oyster crackers - serve immediately.

Serves 4-6