Chowda....Recipe forum

[Saltheart]

You need to make a roux. Rouxs are the gourmet chefs way to thick chowders , etc. Its still adding starch but you cook the starch in butter with the onions and celery etc before adding the wet ingredients. this gives the starch some flavor and thickens the chowder. If you cook it a lot the color will be brown , which tastes great and is done for some other dishes but usually not done for chowder. Anyway , that's the route to a thick chowder.

Try this , add about 1/2 stick of butter in a big pan with the onions garlic celery , etc , whatever you like. Or instead of butter , render down some salt pork or bacon. If you use the paok or bacon , take out the meat but leave behind the fat. I prefer butter myself but bacon adds a nice deep flavor.

After the onions and celery , etc are clear , Add about 4 tablespoons of flour. Essentially you are frying the flour but stir constantly. the longer you cook it the darker it gets. For chowder , you barely want it to change color at all (about 3 or 4 minutes) .

When you like the color , add the wet ingredients and potatoes and simmer it down so you evaporate about half the watery liquid. then add some milk or light cream (health question , (the cream will taste better!) and heat until it starts simmering again.Add your fish and some herbs , i like dill and thyme. I like to add the fish to the simmering pot and heat until it starts to simmer again plus about 4 minutes. If you want you can also add some finely chopped green onions at the same time as the fish and add back in the already cooked salt pork or bacon bits if you used them instead of butter. . add salt (be careful , there's already plenty of salt from the butter or pork or bacon) and pepper to taste and serve.

Some people simmer the chowder for a long time with the fish in it. i like to limit the time the fish is simmering so it stays in chunks and is not over cooked.


essentially you can do the same thing for clam chowder , etc.

You could use your friends recipe you said you like but add the making of the roux in the beginning of the process too so its thicker.

after you make it once , you can add more flour next time if you like it thicker or more cream if you like it thinner.

here's a secret i never tell anyone but I'm on a roll so what to hell.

If you really want to go over the top , add sour cream instead of light cream. you will need a little more herbs but the sour cream , if done right , makes the best broth.