The problem with sending me into Whole Foods with an empty stomach and a culinary itch is that things like this happen at the end of it all.
I went in for coffee and half-and-half, and I came out with all the ingredients for chowdah.
I suspect I'd do well in a different country where people go to the stores each day or ever two or three days to buy groceries. I only have a boyfriend and a cat to feed (no children) so I can afford to wing it most nights. I wandered around, found things that looked good, wandered a little more while I thought of what to make, and ended up with seafood chowder.
Mind you, I've never *made* seafood chowder before. So I imagined the dish, bought ingredients to suit it, and went home and *then* looked up a recipe. This is not a course of action I'd recommend for most recipes. I don't think I could make something exotic on this hit-or-miss plan, but for seafood chowder, it worked.
Seafood Chowdah, ornithvore/pescevore style.
Get yourself two turkey andouille sausages. Cut them into bite-sized peices. Saute in a heavy soup pot with some butter until lightly browned. Add one onion, diced, and saute until the onion is soft. In the meantime, cut up two tilapia filets into cubes. Defrost and rinse 16 oz of frozen clams or one can of clams, reserving the juice. Prep half a pound of shrimp cuting them in half. Rinse half a pound of small scallops. Cut about a pound or a little more of red creamer potatoes into quarters. You want everything to be about the same size. Measure out about 2.5 cups of milk and/or half and half. I used half and half and it was delicious (I like a thinner chowder). Get one bottle of clam juice ready. Measure out about 2 cups of chicken stock or fish stock (or, if you don't mind the salt, use more clam juice.) All in all, you want about 2.5 cups of clear liquid, and about 2 cups of milk or cream combo. I think some white wine with the clear liquid would also be a good choice.
Once the onion is soft, add the potatoes and the clear liquids. Add some dried thyme, about 0.5 teaspoon or more, depending on how much you like, and one bay leaf. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Reduce the heat, add the seafood and the dairy, and just keep warm stirring occasionally. There is enough heat in the soup to cook the fish to perfection without making them rubbery. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with fresh parsley.
If you live with someone who eats mammals, go for chourico, pork andouille, or good bacon or smoked pork. Let me know how yours turns out.
