Thanks to Head Chef, James Stack of Manor West Hotel for sharing his Seafood Chowder recipe which he has developed over the past 25 years. Always a firm favourite on the menu in Manor West Hotel all year round, but a guaranteed winner on a cold Autumn evening.
Try for yourself!
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 50g diced butter
- 1 tsp celery
- 1 tbsp diced leek
- 2 carrots
- 1 onion
- 500mls fish stock
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped dill -optional
- 2 small hake fillets (250g)
- 2 small cod fillets (205g)
- 2 salmon fillets
- I medium piece (400g) smoked fish (haddock, coley)
- 350mls cream
- 4 tbsp finely diced chives
- 2 tbsp of cornflour mixed with cold water to make paste
Method:
- In a hot pan add the oil and butter, once the butter has melted add the vegetables. Reduce the heat to a medium heat and cook the vegetables without colour until soft.
- Dice the cod, salmon, hake and smoked haddock into 2 cm cubes. Add the fish to the vegetables.
- Pour the hot fish stock (We make our own stock in the hotel but you can use a stock cube at home) and cream into pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes until fish is cooked.
Note: It is important not to boil the chowder as this will break up the fish, you want the fish to be nice and chunky in your chowder.
- Add the corn flour & water mixture to the hot chowder, allow it to cook out over low heat for a further 2 minutes. (traditionally a roux would be used to thicken the chowder, but with so many customers suffering from coeliac disease now we use cornflour as a thickening agent)
- Pour the chowder into a serving bowl and top with freshly chopped dill and chives.
- We like to serve the chowder with freshly baked soda bread smothered in salted butter.
Photo Courtesy of Manor West Hotel Tralee
See: Manor West Hotel, Tralee, Co. Kerry