Light seafood chowder

Light seafood chowder. Recipe & photo / Jan Bilton

Ingredients

1	onion, diced
2 each:	bay leaves, cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp	ground cinnamon
500g	potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
2 Tbsp	plain flour
3 cups	good fish or chicken stock
250g each:	skinned and boned white fish, shelled and deveined prawns, smoked fish, mussel meat
4	mussels in their shells
¼ cup	finely chopped parsley
To garnish	fresh herbs and lemon wedges

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan on low heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender. Do not brown. Add the bay leaves, garlic and cinnamon. Stir for 1 minute.
2. Add the potatoes and sauté for 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 1 minute. Add the milk and fish stock. Simmer for 25 minutes, stirring often, until the liquid has reduced to the consistency of thin cream and the potatoes are tender. This can be prepared a day ahead.
3. Cut the white fish into 3cm pieces. Break the smoked fish into pieces. Finely chop the mussels.
4. Place the white fish, prawns and smoked fish into the hot milk mixture and poach for 3 minutes. Stir in the mussel meat and heat through gently, about 3 minutes. The seafood should be cooked through but not rubbery.
5. Serve in bowls, garnished with the reserved mussels in their shells and fresh herbs. Serve the lemon wedges on the side to squeeze into the chowder.

1. Serves: 4 as a main