Celebrating the harvest…

“Celebrating the Harvest” was a wonderful September event for the release of the second edition of A Taste of Life on Quadra Island, Island Cookery III in support of the Quadra Island Children’s Centre. A savory seafood chowder was served to the crowd - and it really was a crowd pleaser.

The Children’s Centre sends a huge THANK YOU to WALCAN SEAFOOD for their generous donation of an iced container loaded with halibut, prawns, scallops, and smoked salmon for the chowder.

The chowder recipe was Brandon Pirie’s adaptation of the cookbook’s West Coast Seafood Chowder, multiplied for several hundred servings. Here’s his recipe, scaled down for a family meal:

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WESTCOAST SEAFOOD CHOWDER

YIELD SERVES 14       ADAPTED FROM FERN KORNELSEN’S RECIPE in A Taste of Life on Quadra Island, Island Cookery III

This chowder is Brandon Pirie’s adaptation of Fern Kornelsen’s cookbook recipe, replacing some of the veggies with a roux—to spotlight Walcan Seafood’s donation of a brimming tote of salmon, prawns, halibut and smoked salmon.

 INGREDIENTS

½ pound bacon, cut into small pieces

2 onions, chopped

4 to 6 stalks of celery, diced

2 potatoes, cubed

6 carrots, sliced

2 litres vegetable stock (recipe below)

4 to 6 bay leaves

1 pound smoked wild sockeye, cut into 1-inch chunks

2 pounds BC spot prawns, shelled

2 pounds halibut, cut into one-inch chunks

1 pound scallops, shelled

2 cups whipping cream

⅓ to ½ cup white wine

Salt, pepper

½ bunch of parsley, chopped

1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped

1 bunch/container of fresh tarragon, stemmed and chopped

VEGETABLE STOCK INGREDIENTS

2 onions

6 shallots

4 medium carrots

4 celery stalks

2 ½ litres water

Parsley, dill and tarragon stems

METHOD - VEGETABLE STOCK

Chop and saute stock veggies in a bit of oil or butter. Once softened, add water and bring to a simmer for about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, wash the fresh herbs, reserving the stems for the stock.

Strain the stock and blend a quarter of the simmered veggies back into the liquid with a stick blender. Whisk it in with the rest of the stock and repeat if necessary to about the thickness of whipping cream.

Add the herb stems and cover to steep until needed later.

METHOD - CHOWDER

Fry bacon. Add onions and celery and saute for a few minutes before adding potatoes and carrots. Continue to saute until vegetables have softened. Remove stems from stock then add stock, bay leaves, wine and whipping cream.

Add seafood and bring to a slow simmer stirring gently for approximately 10 minutes.

Add salt, pepper, tarragon, dill and parsley.

Serve with your favorite bread.