Oven Baked Chowder

[Sara Moulton]

Oven Baked Chowder

Serves 4 as Main Dish.

Servings: 4 as a main dish

Hands-on time: 15 minutes

Total preparation time: 1 1/4 hours

I was born and bred in New York, but my roots are in New England, so you might say that chowder is in my blood. My family has always made it by starting with whole cod or haddock on the bone, because the bones are the key to big, big flavor. On a weeknight in the twenty-first century, however, I know most of us just don't have the time. So here's a simpler version. (OK, this recipe requires and hour and a quarter from start to finish, but only fifteen minutes of that is actual hands-on time.) And because all the ingredients are tightly sealed in one casserole, you can't boil off the flavor. It'll all be there to smack you in the face the instant you sit down to your bowl. Serve with crackers and Cole Slaw (page 38).

• 1 c canned chicken broth or Chicken Stock (page 32)
  
• 1/3 c white wine
  
• 2 medium boiling or Yukon Gold potatoes (about 12 ounces), peeled and sliced thinly
  
• 1 medium onion thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
  
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  
• 8 thin slices Canadian bacon (about 6 ounces), chopped
  
• 1 tsp rinsed and dried fresh thyme or 1/3 teaspoon dried
  
• Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper
  
• 2 T unsalted butter, thinly sliced and quartered
  
• 1 Turkish bay leaf
  
• 1-1/2 lb cod, scrod, or halibut filet
  
• 1/2 c half-and-half
  
• 1/4 tsp paprika
  

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spay a shallow 2-quart baking dish with vegetable cooking spray. Bring the broth and wine to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.

2. Layer the potatoes, onion, celery, and bacon in the baking dish, seasoning with thyme, salt, and pepper between the layers. Pour the hot broth mixture over all, dot with butter, add the bay leaf, and cover tightly with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

3. Remove the bay leaf from the potato mixture; add the fish and bake, covered, until the fish is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, gently heat the half and half.

4. To serve, drizzle the hot half-and-half over the fish. Spoon the chowder into bowls, breaking the fish into flakes with the spoon; sprinkle each serving with some paprika.

Excerpted from Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals, published by Broadway Books and reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2005 by Sara Moulton. Pages referenced in this recipe are from the book.

Keywords: Soup, American, Easy, Fish, Dinner

( RG1576 )