What's for Dinner? Seafood Chowder!

This past weekend was a good one.  We had our annual Christmas party and it was a ton of fun.  The food theme this year was "Paninis and Crostinis".  Basically, just a lot of different sandwiches from different countries.  It was fun to do (and I will be blogging a few of them in the upcoming weeks) and oh-so-delicious.  We had a lot of leftover sandwiches, and what goes better with sandwiches than soup?  I was feeling seafood, and chowder is nice and hearty (I would say for the cold weather we have been having, but it was 75 degrees today!).  This chowder was really good, and it led me to beg the question, "why does chowder you get in a restaurant have to be SOOOO bad for you?"  This chowder that I made had no cream at all...only 1 cup of 2% milk.  The stats on it are really good for such a thick and creamy soup.  And you can basically use any seafood you like...mix it up!  Give it a try...you won't be sorry!

Seafood Chowder
Serves 6-8
Printable Recipe

1 TBSP olive oil
2 leeks, mostly white part, halved and thinly sliced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 to 1 inch dice (depending how chunky you want them)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups seafood stock (this can be found now in any grocery store in the broth/stock section...if not, use chicken broth)
1 cup milk
1 lb cod or halibut, cut into small chunks
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 lbs bay scallops (the small ones)
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1-2 TBSP fresh dill
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven or soup pot, heat oil over medium high heat.  Add celery and leek and saute until just soft.  Add garlic and potato and saute 2 minutes more.  Sprinkle flour over veggies, stir and let cook several minutes.  Add broth and stir well.  Let thicken.  Add milk and stir.  Simmer until potatoes are just soft.  Add in fish, cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add shrimp and scallops.  Let all simmer for another 5 minutes.  If chowder gets too thick, add some more stock.  Add dill. At the very end, add in Gruyere cheese and remove from heat.  Serve with garlic toast or oyster crackers and top with more cheese, if desired.  Enjoy!