POTS AND PANS CITY BLOG

Enhance your next dinner party by serving lovely, rich seafood chowder filled with all the tantalizing flavors of the sea in a light creamy broth. The Seafood Chowder recipe presented below is not difficult to make and your guests will truly be impressed with your cooking skills. This lovely chowder recipe can be served as a first course of a meal, or even on its own with crusty bread and a salad.

The culinary experience for you and your guests can be further enhanced when the tasty chowder is paired with an appropriate wine, such as a Chardonnay Blanc. This gentle white wine will compliment the delicate flavors of the fish in the dish. A robust red wine or a very tannic red wine will overpower the fish and may even cause a metallic or steely taste when consumed together. The Chardonnay Blanc offers a crisp and fruity flavor that goes well with the light buttery, creamy flavor that is built into chowder, while the acid content of the wine will bring out the flavor of the seafood.

Chardonnay is a white wine grape grown all over the world, as it is easy to grow and adapts well to different climate conditions. The white wines are produced in many different styles ranging from Chablis, to the rich buttery Meursaults and the fruit-flavored New World wines. The Chardonnay has a fruity aroma suggestive of crisp apples, pears and lemon, while its full-bodied nature can still support complementary characteristics such as oak, butter or vanilla.

Of the years, Chardonnay has been subject to criticism suggesting that is has been a wine that is cheap and over-exposed—one that only inexperienced wine-drinkers would order. This reputation was due to the fact that in the past in California it was fashionable to use excessive oak and malolactic fermentation when making the Chardonnay, which resulted in an often cloying, fat, oak-y tasting wine that paired poorly with food. But the un-oaked Chardonnay which has not undergone malolactic fermentation will have the hints of green apple, lemon or lime that make it a good pairing for many foods.

Serving a good Chardonnay Blank with the delicious Seafood Chowder presented below will be sure to make your next dinner party a hit.

Creamy Seafood Chowder

3 onions

1 tsp. minced garlic

3 TBSP. butter

2 TBSP. flour

In a large stockpot, melt butter. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are transparent. Stir in flour and brown.

Add to pot:

6 cups chicken stock

3 small potatoes, peeled and cut in small cubes

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Pepper

1 TBSP. Basil

1 tsp. Thyme

Bring to a boil. Turn heat down and let simmer until vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork. In small batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return mixture to pot.

Add:

½ pkg. Mixed seafood

2-3 pieces of fish (cod, sole, etc.) cut in chunks

1 cup baby shrimp

Bring soup to a boil and turn down and simmer for 12 minutes. Add 1 cup half and half cream.

Heat through and serve hot.