New England Seafood Chowder

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 6 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch squares (about 8 slices)
• 4 medium onions, coarsely chopped (or large onions)
• 3 medium celery ribs, sliced
• 3 lbs boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 3 cups fish stock or 2 (8 ounce) bottles clam juice, mixed with 1 cup water
• additional fish stock or water
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs (or 1/4 teaspoon crumbled dried thyme)
• 3 parsley sprigs
• 2 cups milk (or more)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce, to taste
• salt & freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 2 lbs scrod fillets, cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes (or cod or haddock)
• 1 1/4 cups canned tomatoes, drained and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 lb bay scallop, cut into 3 pieces each (or whole sea scallops)
• unsalted butter
• paprika

Recipe

• 1 cook bacon in heavy dutch oven over medium heat until golden brown, stirring frequently, 8-10 minutes.
• 2 transfer to paper towel using slotted spoon.
• 3 pour off all but 3 t. bacon fat.
• 4 add onions and celery to dutch oven.
• 5 cover and cook over medim-low heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 10 minutes.
• 6 add potatoes, 3 cups fish stock and additional fish stock or water if necessary to almost cover vegetables.
• 7 bring to boil.
• 8 tie thyme and parsley in a piece of cheesecloth. add to soup.
• 9 reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender, 15-20 minutes.
• 10 transfer half of vegetables to food processor, using slotted spoon. puree until smooth.
• 11 return puree to soup.
• 12 add 2 cups milk, cream, pepper sauce to taste, salt and generous amount of pepper.
• 13 bring soup to boil, stirring until smooth.
• 14 thin with more milk if desired.
• 15 add fish. cover and simmer until fish is almost opaque, 2-3 minutes.
• 16 discard cheesecloth bag.
• 17 add tomatoes, scallops and bacon to soup; stir gently to avoid breaking fish.
• 18 adjust seasoning.
• 19 cover and simmer until fish and scallops are just opaque, about 1 minute.
• 20 ladle soup into bowls.
• 21 top each with thin pat of butter.
• 22 sprinkle with paprika and serve.