Creamy smoked haddock potato chowder that’s simple to cook and makes a hearty, comforting meal.
Good morning (or afternoon, or evening, or whenever you’re reading this…), how’s everyone today? I’ve just woken up after a restless night of dreaming about being late/forgetting my running shoes/some other disaster ahead of my half marathon tomorrow!
Funny how our brains work like that eh? Anyway, I decided to take advantage of being awake early to get up and finish off this blog post.
After posting about ‘blogger burnout’ and how I’d lost the joy in cooking a little recently, I took some time to look through my cookbooks for a bit of inspiration.
The inspiration for this smoked haddock potato chowder comes from a soup in Gill Meller’s ‘Gather’. I’ve made quite a few changes:
- kale instead of leek (too many bad memories of huge chunks of soggy leek floating in school dinner soups!)
- no coriander (because Ricky claims it tastes like soap & sometimes I pander to him…)
- the addition of potatoes to make this into a more hearty meal
- and mustard because it just goes SO well with smoky flavours
In making this I really rediscovered what I love about cooking. That is, taking an idea and tweaking it to get something that tastes just how you imagine. I’ve never been good at following recipes to a tee, but this is what I do enjoy.
So, I made this and immediately felt what I’d been missing: that need to share the recipe because it was SO good. Funny how getting back to basics and taking a bit of pressure off can do wonders.
Anyway, all that is to say that this smoked haddock potato chowder is a recipe I’m really in love with. It’s simple and comforting, made in one pot for no fuss, and substantial enough to make a full meal by itself.
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 15g unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 200g baby potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 2 skinless smoked haddock fillets
- 100g sweetcorn
- 50g kale, shredded
- 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 2 tsp mustard
- 100ml double cream
Instructions
- Heat the oil and butter in a large pot then add the onion and garlic. Cook over a medium heat until the onions have softened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until just tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the haddock, sweetcorn and kale and continue to cook until the fish easily flakes apart, about 4-5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, mustard and double cream. Divide between two bowls to serve.
The coriander soap is a thing! I have it too. It means we have a different kind of taste bud and it shifts the flavour of coriander. Who knew? I found some scientific journal articles about it to convince my husband I wasn’t just being weird 😉 a friend has just recommend this recipe more relevantly. It sounds great!