Since Denmark is a country that basically consists of islands only connected to Germany in the south by the big peninsula Jutland, the tradition of eating a lot of fish for dinner should be a given. But actually I grew up in a home where we didn’t have fish for dinner at all (except the 2 times a year when my mom treated us to a piece of salmon). And chowder would have been a completely foreign word. It’s not that we didn’t eat fish, because I can’t remember a lunch at home that didn’t include pickled herring, but for dinner fish simply wasn’t an option. Now I love fish for dinner, though I can’t decide whether it’s the love for the delicate and mild aroma or the fact that fish goes so perfectly with white wine.
This dish is very very easy to make and if you serve it with some good Italian bread I guarantee that you won’t need to worry about leftovers.
Chowder (serves 4)
Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp (about 15 g) butter
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups (1/2 liter) fish stock
1 lbs (500 g) potatoes peeled and cut into coarse bitesize pieces.
2 cups (1/2 liter) single or low-fat cream (12-18 % fat)
2 carrots cut into slices of about 0.2 inches (5 mm)
600 g fresh salmon cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes (If you don’t like salmon you can use any other type of fish that is not too flaky)
2 sticks celery cut into slices of about 0.2 inches (5 mm)
10 oz (300 g) shrimp
1 organic lemon (grated zest and juice of 1/2-whole lemon, to taste)
Directions
1. Heat the butter in a saute pan and sauté the onions and garlic for 1 minute.
2. Stir in the flour with a little of the fish stock (to avoid flour lumps) and then add the potatoes and the rest of the fish stock. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for about 15 minutes till the potatoes are tender.
3. Add the cream and the carrots and heat up the mixture til it starts to boil again.
4. Add the fish and let it simmer for 3 more minutes.
5. Finely you add the celery, shrimp and lemon (juice and zest). Season with salt and peper and serve the chowder immediately.
Enjoy!
