Food on Friday ~ Chowder

chowder breathes reassurance, it steams satisfaction

As if you didn’t know, a chowder is a rich soup or stew, often of fish, typically popular in New England and Atlantic Canada ~ usually served with crackers for some insane reason. Chowder does travel; I have had a great clam chowder at a diner on Ghirardelli in San Francisco. Although now thought of as a strictly American / New England dish, chowder probably originates in Normandy and / or Cornwall. At one time England was said to be an island made of coal and surrounded by fish, both perfect for the cooking of a great seafood chowder.

As the year turns, the nights draw in and the weather becomes colder and wetter, a steaming bowl of chowder is a fabulously warming dish to serve to a hungry Englishman.

Something different from well plated by Erin; roasted cauliflower chowder, (very healthy), originally from Two Peas and Their Pod cookbook by Maria Litchy. Erin also has a great recipe for crockpot potato soup, which is pretty damn close to being a chowder.

Roasted Cauliflower Chowder

And from Heidi at Foodie Crush there’s a slow cooker corn chowder; this is made with a blend of almond milk and cashew milk. Interesting.

Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

A while ago I was wondering if one could make a decent salmon soup, it turns out there is a shed-load of brilliant salmon soup recipes around on the internet. From Yummly I can offer you a collection of the 10 best salmon soup recipes, (trust me there are a lot more than 10 salmon soup recipes on this site). Looking through Yummly’s recipes I found a super salmon chowder from Andrea Beaman at Further Food, (which is another cool site).

salmon-chowder

Super Salmon Chowder

A great collection from delicious magazine. Their winter soup recipes include this fabulous looking and great sounding smoked bacon, leek, and butter bean chowder from Debbie Major. I have tried this recipe, and it’s fantastic.

Smoked Bacon, Leek, and Butter Bean Chowder

Again from Delish magazine we have a collection of 17 chowders to help you transition from summer to fall. I especially like the look of this New England clam chowder recipe by A Family Feast with its added bacon and salt pork ~ very traditional. Personally I would never thicken a chowder with flour or corn starch, I’d use potato instead.