It has snowed and rained, then snowed again briefly, then the temperature dropped to frigid, leaving driveways shiny, slick and terrifying. Yesterday I passed three driveways with cars slid sideways, plunged into rock hard drifts. I am grateful my driveway is level, but getting up the hill into town can be a little hair-raising if you meet another car.
I did try to take my usual walk in the morning, but after punching my boots hard into the crackling ice, I gave up after thirty feet. And went home and made chowder.
This is such a comforting soup: tender flakes of cod ( or pollock, if you can find it), chunks of celery and half moons of potato, a few scallions, lots of home dried dill, fresh parsley, a tablespoon of melting sweet butter, and just before serving, a spoonful of cream is stirred into each bowl, making for one gentle, homestyle chowder. Add a slice of warm sourdough bread, and tuck in.
This makes two generous bowls of soup.
Place in a stainless steel or enamel skillet:
1/2 pound very fresh cod or pollock
pinch of salt
1/2 t. dried dill
1 T. unsalted butter
2 potatoes, (I used russets), peeled, halved and in 1/4" slices
water to almost cover the fish and potatoes.
Bring to a simmer and cook for five minutes.
Add:
1/2 cup sliced celery ( a few leaves are good, too)
2 T. fresh parsley, chopped
2 scallions, trimmed and sliced
1/4 t. kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
two drops hot sauce
Continue to cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover the pan for another 15 minutes.
Gently remove the fish, dividing between the bowls.
Add another 1/4 t. dried dill and salt and pepper to the broth and vegetables in the skillet, then divide the potatoes, broth and celery mixture between the bowls, adding 1 or 2 tablespoons heavy cream to each bowl, and stirring carefully.
Serve with warm bread.
Serve at once.
Enjoy!
2 comments:
Hi Katrina! This chowder looks great for a cold winter day! I love soups a& chowders this time of year.
Are you having as wierd a winter as we are? Not really that cold and very little snow so far - it's quite odd really. Of course we still have February and March (and even April! At least the earlier part) to get through, so who knows what will occur??? The Farmer's Almanac predicted a hard, cold snowy winter for this area. So far that prediction is way off the mark!
Hi Barb! Strange winter? Yes, but I love it! Usually we have about 10 feet of snowbanks, now, we have not even a foot - fine with me:)
I don't know what the Almanac predicted, but our Boston weatherman researched winters after a Halloween blizzard (there were four, plus ours in October, since 1880) and all had mild winters after being walloped with snow in Oct. So far, so good.
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