Facts: My dad loves seafood chowder and I wanted to make it for him.
Problem: It contains gluten and dairy.
Goal: Create a gluten free, dairy free seafood chowder recipe that’s as good as the original.
Challenge: I didn’t want to use coconut milk because it makes everything taste like coconut. And I didn’t want to use soy creamer, because ew…So I had to use almond milk but make sure it was nice and thick and creamy. My
The solution: A gluten free dairy free roux of Earth Balance vegan margarine and potato starch to thicken.
A note: Please try to use sustainable seafood. Nordic shrimp, for example, or anything MSC-certified. I used Newfoundland bay shrimp, which may or may not be sustainable depending on who you ask (had to read up on stocks, feed and harvesting methods and I’m still not sure), plus cod (also debatable because some say the stocks are up and others say they’re not high enough to be catching and selling as much as is currently allowed).
Gluten Free, Dairy Free Seafood Chowder
5 cups chicken or fish broth
1 lb sustainable fresh or frozen shrimp
2 cups carrots and celery, or just carrots, chopped whatever size you like
3 tbsp Earth Balance or other vegan margarine, divided
5 large potatoes, chopped whatever size you want
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 cup almond milk
2 lbs sustainable white flesh fish (haddock, cod, turbot or halibut if you’re flush), cut into cubes or chunks
3 tbsp potato starch
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
If the shrimp are in their shells, bring them to a simmer in the 5 cups of broth for 3 minutes. Remove from the broth and remove the shells. Put the shells back in the broth and simmer 30 minutes. Drain the shells, reserving the broth. If they don’t have shells, skip this step.
Heat 1 tbsp of the margarine in a large pot over medium heat and add the carrots and celery. Sweat the vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring slowly but frequently.
Add the reserved broth along with the potatoes, bay leaf and salt (if the broth already has a lot of sodium, you’ll only need 1/2 tsp salt, so start with that and add more later if you’re not sure).
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost tender.
Add the almond milk and let the mixture come back to a simmer while you prepare the roux: In a small skillet, melt the remaining margarine over medium heat. Add the potato starch and stir constantly for 2 minutes so it doesn’t burn. Whisk a little bit of the hot broth into the roux and then scrape the roux into the big pot of broth with the fish. Whisk it in without breaking the potatoes too much and bring the chowder to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, until thickened.
Add the fish and shrimp and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the fish is just barely cooked. It’ll keep cooking while you prepare to serve it. Stir in half the dill and black pepper and ladle into bowls. Top with the remaining dill and a few more grinds of pepper.
If you want it thicker, whisk a little more almond milk into an equivalent amount of potato starch (e.g. 1 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp starch) before whisking into the chowder and simmering for a couple extra minutes.
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