Fish & (Creamed) Corn Chowder in a Bread Bowl for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I was chatting with a friend this week and she asked what soup I was going to make. I told her nothing was readily coming to mind (with 500+ soups already on the blog, it can be hard to be inspired sometimes) and she sent me three of her favorite soup recipes.

I decided to start with the Halibut Chowder that she said was her mother's recipe. There's something about a mom's recipe that you know has to be good--especially when it's from the era where milk and butterfat be damned. ;-) I have made plenty of chowders with fresh and frozen corn, but not creamed corn, and I was intrigued to see what it did to the this one.

I made a few changes (noted in red below), subbing the haddock and cod I had in the fridge for the halibut and swapping the milk and cream out for coconut milk--still rich but better for my breathing (I did keep the butter though). I also took out the bacon, adding liquid smoke and Old Bay Seasoning to get a smoky vibe, and I didn't stir the flour in at the end--finding the chowder thick enough and not wanting to risk a lumpy, flour taste. I served it in  a sourdough bread bowl because it seemed like the perfect bread bowl chowder.

(White Fish) Halibut & (Creamed) Corn Chowder
By Deb's Friend, Barbara
(Serves 4 to 6)

2 lbs halibut (I rinse and squeeze 12 a lemon so there is no fishy taste) (I used 1 lb cod & 1 lb haddock)

4 slices of bacon cut into piece (I omitted)

3/4 cup chopped onion or 1 jar/can of pearl onions

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 cups diced potatoes

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper
(I added 1/2 tsp liquid smoke)
(I added 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning)

1/4 tsp dill weed

1 16-oz can cream corn (My can was 14.75 oz)

2 cups half & half (I omitted & used coconut milk)

2 cups milk (I omitted and used coconut milk)

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 Tbsp flour (I omitted)

Cook bacon in bottom of pot until crisp (drain the grease) add onions, potatoes, water, salt and dill. Cover and simmer 12 minutes. Add halibut (cut in one inch cubes) cover again and cook 8 more minutes. Add corn and all the milk heating gently; lastly add the flour and butter. Serve.

Notes/Results: Rich, creamy and good. A very nostalgic fish chowder. In addition to thickening the chowder, I found the creamed corn imparts more of a corn flavor to the soup, which I liked. I found the chowder plenty thick without the flour, but if you want it even thicker, I'd actually add it in the beginning to cook out the flavor and blend it better. I am happy to have this chowder for lunches this week and would happily make it again. Thanks Barb!

Let's take a look into the Souper Sundays kitchen:

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared tasty Charcoal Grilled Cheeseburgers and said, "Doug's retirement means he is cooking and grilling more. This is something I have probably shared before, a grilled burger, but here we have oven roasted potatoes as an accompaniment. I tossed the tiny potatoes with olive oil and rosemary and convection roasted. They were pretty good."

 
Mahalo to Tina for joining in this week!
 
About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how... 

 To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up her in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

 
Have a happy, healthy week!