Making Some Halibut Chowder
Alright, so the other day I got this idea stuck in my head: halibut chowder. Had some nice looking halibut fillets staring at me from the fridge, and it felt like a chowder kind of day, you know? A bit gray outside. So, I decided to just go for it.
First things first, I pulled out the usual suspects for a chowder base. Got my cutting board and knife ready. Chopping time. I started with an onion, diced it up pretty fine. Then grabbed a couple of celery stalks, did the same. Potatoes next – peeled ’em and cubed ’em up, not too big, not too small. I always try to get the potatoes roughly the same size so they cook evenly. Nothing worse than some mushy bits and some hard bits.
Now, for the flavor base. I threw a few strips of bacon into my big soup pot. Let that sizzle away until it got nice and crispy. Scooped the bacon out onto a paper towel – that’s for crumbling on top later. Left some of that good bacon fat in the pot, though. That’s where the magic starts.
Tossed the diced onion and celery into the hot bacon fat. Stirred ’em around until they got soft and the onion started looking kinda see-through. Took maybe five, seven minutes? Smelled pretty darn good already.
Then I sprinkled in a bit of flour, just a couple of tablespoons, and stirred it constantly for like a minute. Gotta cook out that raw flour taste. After that, I slowly started pouring in some chicken broth, whisking as I went to make sure it didn’t get lumpy. Added a splash of clam juice too, just for that extra seafood kick. Some folks skip it, but I think it helps.
Once that was looking smooth, in went the cubed potatoes. Gave it a good stir, brought it up to a simmer, then turned the heat down low. Put the lid on, but left it slightly cracked. Let those potatoes cook until they were just about tender when I poked ’em with a fork. Maybe 15 minutes, give or take.
While the potatoes were simmering away, I dealt with the halibut. Cut the fillets into bite-sized chunks, maybe about an inch square. Seasoned them simply with a bit of salt and pepper.
Okay, potatoes felt tender. Time for the star. Gently placed the halibut pieces into the simmering soup. Be careful here, you don’t want to break up the fish too much. Just nudged them down into the liquid. Fish cooks fast. Especially halibut. It only needed like, 5 more minutes. I just watched until the pieces turned white and opaque all the way through.
Almost done. Turned the heat way down, basically off. Stirred in some heavy cream. Didn’t want it to boil after adding the cream, ’cause sometimes it can curdle, which looks kinda gross. Tasted it. Needed more salt, definitely more black pepper. Added those in, stirred gently.
Served it up hot in bowls. Crumbled that crispy bacon I saved over the top, maybe added some fresh parsley I had lying around. It wasn’t fancy, but man, it was a solid, hearty bowl of chowder. The fish was tender, potatoes were soft, broth was creamy. Pretty successful experiment, I’d say. Definitely hit the spot on that gray day.
