[Recipe] The Best Seafood Chowder

Grammy's Seafood Chowder

If you love seafood, you will love this recipe. My Grandmother makes it at Christmas and the whole family cannot get enough. It is not low in fat nor is it packed full of fillers (i.e. potatoes). Rather than mess with the perfect family recipe, I decided to share it as it is originally made. Feel free to make any substitution you like, but I am sticking to the original.

Makes 8-10 large servings 

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cups diced onion
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced carrots
1 L lower sodium chicken stock
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2lbs haddock fillets, cut into large bite pieces (about 1in x 1in)
2x 5oz cans of whole baby clams, undrained
1lb cooked shrimp 

2/3 cup flour
1 L whole milk.

Instructions
1. Melt the butter in a large soup pot (one that can hold at least 4 litres).
2. Add the onions and celery. Cook until softened. Do not brown.
3. Add the carrots and cook until soft.
4. Add chicken stock, salt & pepper. Then add the haddock fillets, clams (with liquid from the can) and shrimp.
5. In a measuring cup make a paste of flour and a few tablespoons of milk. Add the rest of the milk and whisk well. Add this to chowder.
6. Cook on low for approximately 60 minutes stirring often and make sure the bottom of the pot does not scald.

N.B. we added 1 lb of large scallops (cut in half) and they were very nice and tender.