This dish represents our attempt to feature the bounty of the Chesapeake Bay all in one bowl. Obviously, it would be impossible to include all of the wonderful food products, grown and harvested from the Delmarva Peninsula. This chowder does include some of the more notable products. Chesapeake fish, crabmeat and shellfish, Silver Queen corn and Virginia ham are included. You can leave out the cream if you like and replace it with more fish stock or water. It will not be as rich, but the flavor will be fine. The concept with this chowder is to utilize local food products. You can substitute Chincoteague oysters for Blue Points or Kumamoto or even use clams. Cod, halibut or even salmon can replace the rockfish. Use whatever products are local, fresh and in season.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr |
| Yield: | 6 servings (8 cups) |
Ingredients
- 18 Chincoteague oysters, or Blue Point or Kumamoto
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium leek, diced, white part only
- 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 shallots, peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh picked thyme leaves
- 5 strips bacon, diced
- 3 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups fish stock
- 2 cups clam juice (bottled is fine)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced (about 2 cups)
- 2 ounces Virginia ham, finely diced
- 2 cups fresh-shucked corn
- 1 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup sherry
- 4 drops hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
- 1 pound rockfish or striped bass fillets, skinned and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 16 ounces jumbo lump crab meat (picked for shells)
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- Sea salt
- Cracked pepper
Instructions
- Shuck the oysters and strain the liquor through a fine mesh sieve. Reserve oysters and liquid separately.
- In a saute pan, add the butter and heat until bubbling. Add the leeks, onions, shallots, and thyme and cook until transparent. In a separate large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the bacon and cook until crisp. Lower the heat, add the flour and cook the “roux” for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the fish stock, clam juice, oyster liquor, white wine, potatoes, and Virginia ham. Raise heat to high and bring to a simmer. Add the cooked leek-onion mixture and reduce all by 1/4. Add the corn and cook for 4 minutes. Add the cream, sherry, and hot sauce and cook 4 more minutes, stirring so as not to scorch. Add the rockfish, crabmeat and oysters and cook a minute or two. Check salt and pepper, noting that the ham is very salty so the chowder won’t need much.
- Serve in 6 warm soup terrines and garnish with the chopped chives. Serve with corn breadsticks or common crackers.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 769 |
| Total Fat | 40 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Carbohydrates | 39 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Protein | 58 g |
| Cholesterol | 306 mg |
| Sodium | 1829 mg |
Reviews
Wow! What a great, hearty soup! I used canned oysters and canned clams, and a piece of Mahi Mahi tuna, since I didn’t have rockfish or jumbo lump crab meat. I think it would have been even better with the crab meat, so I will make sure I have some next time. I substituted celery for the leek, dried thyme instead of fresh, chicken stock in place of fish stock, one can of cream of celery soup instead of heavy cream, and marsala cooking wine instead of sherry. I omitted clam juice and dry white wine, since I didn’t have any on hand. In addition, I also added Old Bay seasoning. So I guess I pretty much made this my “own” recipe, and I was more than pleased!! Definitely a KEEPER!
I made the chowder as written but added some baby crabs to the mix; after all it is seafood chowder from the chesapeake. I thought it was a bit expensive but worth it… I made it for my husband for fathers day and he was in heaven and loved it. You should try it for a special occassion especially if you love seafood. yum.