Ingredients
2 slices bacon
Medium onion
10 baby red potatoes
2 carrots
Kosher salt and black pepper
Smoked paprika (which I think made a HUGE difference)
1 C frozen corn
4 C fish stock
.5 C white wine
.25 C heavy cream
8 oz cod
Directions
1
This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.
2
This one calls for something in the neighborhood of a quarter- to half-pound of fish fillets per person and works as well in the heat of South Florida as it does on the frozen Northern Plains. Dice a strip or two of bacon if you’re a meat eater, or grab some butter if you are not (or use both if you are reckless). Add it to a Dutch oven set over medium-high heat and sauté with a few handfuls of diced onions, carrots and potatoes until the onions have gone translucent. Hit the mixture with some salt and pepper and a flash of smoked paprika if you have it. If you can find good corn on the cob, that would be a fine addition. So would a cup of frozen corn.
3
Do you have any fish stock? No? White wine? Surely you have water. Add enough liquid (of any combination of the above) so that the potatoes are almost swimming, then add a bay leaf and reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow the chowder to bubble along until the liquid has reduced by a third and the potatoes are tender. Add a splash or two of milk or cream and allow it to heat and thicken slightly. Now cut the fillets into chunks and stir them in gently. Five minutes later: chowder. Serve with crusty bread.