Fish Chowder Made Easy

Do you ever have one of those days when you look at what you have on hand and think "What on earth can I make using that?" Well, so do I.

This week, the mystery ingredient is fish. Now, normally I would make a fish pie or a seafood risotto, but I didn't really want to spend that much time on cooking and besides I forgot to buy any risotto rice this week.

October weather has been quite mild this year, but come evening time temperatures are starting to dip, making this an ideal time of year to start having soups.

And there is my inspiration, I decided to make a fish chowder. A quick check in my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook just to see how they did their clam chowder, and to get an idea on how much milk they use and what herbs or flavourings they add.

This is what I came up with.

Fish chowder

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 4 medium potatoes,diced
• 1 large onion, diced 
• 1 pack seafood selection (prawns, mussels, and squid)
• 1 pack fish pie mix
• Dried thyme
• Dried parsley
• Worcester sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste, but start with about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cups water
• Vegetable stock cube
• 2 heaped teaspoons corn flour (corn starch)
• 2 cup skimmed milk

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed stewing pot. Add the chopped bacon and cook until crispy.
2. Add in the potatoes, onion, packs of seafood and fish, and stir to mix. Add in the dried herbs, worcester sauce, salt and pepper, water, and vegetable stock. Stir. Bring up to a boil then reduce heat. Leave to simmer about 10 - 15 minutes, until the fish is cooked and potatoes are soft. Uing the back of a wooden spoon, smash some of the cooked potato into the side of the pot and stir back into the soup.
3. Stir 2 heaped spoonfuls corn flour(corn stach) with 2 cups skimmed milk and pour in. Taste and adjust seasoning. Bring back up to a simmer and stir 1 - 2 minutes until it begins to thicken.

Serve with slices of buttered bread.