Seguing into Autumn: Smoked Fish Chowder

We’ve had a few days of gloomy, rainy weather here lately which has reminded me more of October than August. This is my excuse to share a very yummy recipe with you which comes from the July issue of New Zealand’s Cuisine magazine. This recipe is easy and fast, and I’m sure that you could substitute butter milk or even skim milk for the cream and reduce the amount of butter (I did the latter and it didn’t detract from the taste at all.) You’ll need:

1 onion, chopped
1 stick celery, finely sliced
1 teaspoon garam masala
100g butter
30g flour
2-3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2 cm dice
500 ml fish stock or water (I used water)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
150 ml cream
250g smoked fish fillet, flaked
handful chopped parsley

Fry the onion, celery and garam masala in the butter until soft (around 5 minutes). Sprinkle the flour over, add the potatoes and stir to coat with butter then stir in the stock or water.

Season with salt and pepper, and reduce the heat. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes until the potatoes are very soft, checking and stirring occasionally to prevent them from sticking. Add more stock or water if necessary (note: it was necessary for me. I added about 150 ml more water than the recipe originally stated, although you might prefer a thicker chowder than I do).

When the potato base has reduced to a puree, add the cream and, with a potato masher, crush out any lumps. Add the fish and mix well. Bring back to near boiling point but do not allow to boil. Check the seasoning and add a generous handful of chopped parsley.

We had this with ciabatta. Serves 4.