Tilapia Corn Chowder

What do you make on a cool evening when you have a group to feed and you have a freshly landed catch of some fish to use up?  Fish Corn Chowder of course, which in this case is called Tilapia Corn Chowder (original recipe on eatingwell.com but I modified it a bit), but you can use any mild white fish. In this preparation I used Swai, a relatively new fish to the US market which is in fact a catfish from Vietnam. Whatever fish you use should be firm like Cod or it will disintegrate into the chowder, which is not to say it won't taste as good, you just won't have hunks of fish to eat.  This chowder is good with cornbread or any biscuits, including the Cheddar Drop Biscuits which I have included the recipe for in another post.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 slices of bacon
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 leek, white solid part only, halved lengthwise, rinsed, and thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper (I used 1 tsp lemon pepper because that's what I had)
• 4 C. reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 medium Idaho potatoes, in large cubes
• 2 C. fresh corn kernels (or frozen if corn on the cob is out of season)
• 2 lbs firm white fish cut into large chunks
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
• 2 C. heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2 if you want a lighter version of the soup
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 TBL fresh chives, chopped (optional)

Preparation

Cut bacon into small bits with kitchen shears and cook in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until crispy, 3-4 minutes. Drain on paper towels and set aside.  Add oil to the pan. Add celery, leek, salt and pepper and cook unitl the vegetables just begin to soften, about 2 minutes.
 
 

Add broth, potatoes and corn. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the potatoes are just tender and the corn is cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Stir in fish and thyme.  Return to a gentle simmer.  Cook until the fish is cooked through, about 4 minutes more.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in cream, lemon juice, and the reserved bacon.  Garnish with chives, if using.

 Serves 6