Nourishing Women’s Stories
A Profile of Maura Brenin
I stood in the Storyknife Writers Retreat library, pretending to browse and doubting that I belonged among the writers with whom I’d spend the next month. I turned to see ...
A bright chowder utilizing fresh local produce and seafood.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 6 Serving(s)
- 4 ounces butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- ½ bunch farmers market celery, including tops, finely diced
- 4 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 fennel bulb, finely diced, (fronds roughly chopped and reserved)
- 1 pound new potatoes, quartered
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon pink peppercorns, crushed
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1½ tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1 cup dry white wine (optional)
- 4 cups fish stock, clam juice, or organic chicken stock
- 1 pound razor clams, roughly chopped and juices reserved
- 1 pound whole rockfish filets
- 1 pound sockeye, diced and pin bones removed
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- Zest of ½ orange
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 bunch fresh dill
- 1 bunch Italian parsley, roughly chopped
Preparation
Melt butter in the bottom of a large heavy-bottomed pot (6 quart) on medium heat. Add the onions, fennel, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add your dry spices: fennel, paprika, pepper, Old Bay, and pink peppercorns. Allow the spices to wake up in the warm butter, slowly adding wine, if any. Turn up the heat, cook uncovered until the wine reduces by half.
Add the potatoes and stock. The potatoes should be just barely covered with the liquid in the pot. Add water if needed. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium and cook, covered, until the potatoes are almost done, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Gently add your seafood to the simmering stock. Begin with salmon, add the clams and lay the rockfish filets across the top of the mixture (they will break up as you poach the fish) and cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
Finish and garnish the dish with heavy cream, citrus zest, fresh herbs and fennel fronds. Enjoy with crusty sourdough baguette.
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