Bermuda fish chowder
Tasty fish chowder (think Manhattan-style clam chowder) inspired by the novel Censorettes by Elizabeth Bales Frank.
Ingredients
- 2 quarts water (filtered or spring)
- 1.5 pounds white fish (fillets) cubed, divided use
- 4-6 springs thyme (fresh) tied with kitchen string
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt omit for lower-sodium version
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves (dried, ground)
- 2 tablespoons butter (unsalted) use unsalted butter for lower-sodium version
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)
- 1 onions chopped
- 4 celery chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3 carrots diced
- 1 green bell pepper chopped (can use red or orange)
- 14 ounces tomatoes (425 g) peeled or puree
- 1 cup chicken stock (low-sodium)
- 1 pound new potatoes scrubbed and cut into 1/8ths
- 6 ounces tomato paste no-salt-added
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoons lemon juice (fresh)
- 1/4 cup rum (dark, Gosling’s Black Seal) or rum of your choice
- 1 tablespoon Outerbridge’s Devilishly Hot Sherry Peppers Sauce
- 1/2 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley (fresh) chopped
Instructions
- Combine the first 7 ingredients in a large pot. RESERVE HALF THE CUBED FISH to add later. Bring to a boil, then turn down and let simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables in the other pan are cooked.
- Melt butter and oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté onions, celery, garlic, carrots, and green pepper for 10 minutes.
- Add tomatoes and broth and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Transfer this mixture to the fish pot and add potatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, rum, and Sherry Peppers Sauce. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour.
- Stir in remaining cubed fish and cook just until cooked through.
- Remove thyme bundle and bay leaves.
- Stir in parsley and serve immediately with crusty bread and butter on the side.
Notes
A note about the fish: Recommended fish include grouper, snapper, cod, haddock, and sea bass. Do not use halibut, tuna, salmon, or other fatty fish. If you have access to a whole fish, remove fillets and reserve for later. Simmer head and rack (fish skeleton) in step 1 for 2 hours before proceeding with rest of recipe. This produces a rich fish stock that would be more authentic. Remove head and bones before adding cubed fillets in step 5.