Fall, What's in a Name? Don't forget the Chowder
Fall...It has been a beautiful week for shutting down the lodge, all of the boats are now in their winter home…rest well ladies and thanks for a great season. Kelly & Jeremy will be spending the next week making sure the buildings are ready for the winter and working in Mossy Ridge to make sure we are ready for an awesome inaugural season with the new lodge…we are excited! (There may be a few extra activities in the form of hunting…don’t feel to bad for them!)
What's in a Name? Next year we will have a new gift and tackle shop on the water in what was the “Fleet Command Center” for "Admiral Stephen R. Alexander's” float house. Steve is one of our local residents who has now retired in Juneau. The outside has been painted and readied for the winter and as you can see there is a wonderful spot for a sign but I am having trouble coming up with a name. Because I know all of you are so creative I am reaching out for some help. The only guidelines are that the name shouldn’t make your grandmother blush (you know what I mean) and I would love to give a nod to Steve if possible. So, please, I am BEGGING, help me with a name the float house for our new gift and tackle shop! **Please note, tackle is still included at Waters Edge Lodge, this is tackle or bait for the weekend fishermen that come to Elfin Cove.**
Chowder! You know that if I am on the blog it has to involve a recipe of some sort…this one is a good one! On Sunday the sky was falling it was raining so hard, that wonderful rain chased away the 90-degree weather and finally it feels like fall is around the corner. I don’t know why the weather is such a trigger but immediately the kids wanted soup for dinner and specifically fish chowder. Luckily for them, and you, I have Chef Jake’s “Fish Chowder Recipe” and we ate well!
This recipe is simple and fast, with my brood that is important, I had 3 helpers and still managed to not mess it up! We got all the ingredients lined out and then the kids started helping me chop, we used smoked salmon because it was a suggestion from Chef Jake and the kids were to starving to wait for me to cook the fish...I promise, I feed them! Aren't they the cutest ever?!
We got the butter melted, seasonings added and sautéing and then added the milk and cream...ok, I didn't have heavy cream so I used a can of evaporated milk, it worked just fine and I will probably do that again since I have them on hand.
Waiting for this pot of goodness to boil was pretty hard for Nikolas who was sure he was starving...but he was patient. Once the milk mixture came to a boil we turned it down to a simmer and added the potatoes and corn and let it cook until the potatoes were cooked. Then we added the most important part, the fish. My kids kept eating the salmon so I had to keep opening packages and have them chop more. I would recommend the potatoes be in about 1/2 in squares and the fish the same, we had big piece, kids choice, and they were a little much for me. Man that looks good!
Once the kids realized the pictures were for the blog not just because I like them and think they are cute, they thought we needed to dress up the bowl of chowder...yes, gold fish crackers... they were actually pretty tasty.
This chowder is amazing and a crowd pleaser. I liked the Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. I went light on the hot sauce, because kids, and wished I had given it a couple extra dashes.
Enjoy ~ Momma Mary
Fish Chowder
Makes 1 - 1/12 gallons, I did 1/2 batch and had enough for 6-8 people
Ingredients:
1 Cup Butter
1 Cup Flour
3 TBS Fresh Garlic minced
1 TBS Garlic Powder
2 TBS Onion Powder
3 TBS Italian Seasoning
4 TBS Dill Weed
3 Qts Milk
2 Cups Heavy Cream
3 Large Russet Potatoes - Diced
2 Cans Corn, drained
3 LBS Cooked Fish, Salmon or Halibut or both
2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
2tsp Tabasco or other hot sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Melt butter and add seasonings, sauté
2. Add flour and mix until incorporated into the seasoned butter
3. Add milk and heavy cream and bring to a simmer
4. Add potatoes and corn; cook until the potatoes are tender
5. Add fish
6. Add Worcestershire sauce and tabasco, season with Salt and Pepper to taste
7. Enjoy (This is extra good the next day, just ask my kids!)
Chef Jake says, "Using smoke salmon will give it a deeper flavor and you can add bacon if you like to give it some of that smokey flavor. Diced onions sautéed in the seasoned butter might be a nice addition as well. Don't be afraid to add different things and try it."
