Seared Cod With Chowder Sauce

Seared Cod With Chowder Sauce

This dish is inspired by chowder, a hearty American fish soup, often enriched with pork and potatoes. Chowder is a vegetable stew, often served with milk or cream and mostly eaten with saltine crackers. Chowder is usually thickened with broken up crackers, but some varieties are traditionally thickened with crushed ship biscuit. New England clam chowder is typically made with chopped clams and diced potatoes, in a mixed cream and milk base, often with a small amount of butter.

Ingredients:

knob of butter

1 small shallot, finely chopped

50g lardons or 2 smoked streaky bacon rashers, finely sliced

100ml white wine

1 large waxy potato, cut into small chunks

100g clams

100g sweetcorn

50ml double cream

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 x 150g thick-cut cod fillets from a sustainable source

chives, finely chopped

Method:

1.      Melt the butter in a pan. Cook the shallot and lardons or bacon for about 5 mins until softened. Add the wine, potato and 50ml water. Cover, then cook for 10 mins, stirring often, until nearly softened. Tip in the clams, cover, then cook for 5 mins until they have opened – discard any that don’t. Stir through the sweetcorn and cream, and keep warm.

2.      Heat a non-stick frying pan until smoking. Add the oil, swirl it around, then put the fillets in, skin-side down. Season, then cook for 3-5 mins until the skin is crisp. Carefully turn over, then cook for 2 mins more until just cooked through. Spoon the creamy potato mixture into 2 shallow bowls. Place a cod fillet in each and sprinkle with chives.