It's been awhile since I posted and after making Cajun fish corn chowder this past weekend decided to share the story of it's evolution of becoming a family favorite. I'm known as the Soup Queen at our house. I have been making soups for years and can throw just about anything together and make a soup out of it. Our family favorite comfort food is potato soup so I have several variations including a corn chowder in which fresh or frozen corn is added to potato soup. I was visiting my youngest daughter, Aubree, several years ago when she was going to Baylor University in Waco TX and we went to eat at one of her favorite restaurants called Buzzard Billy's. We had a Cajun crab corn chowder that was fabulous. The basic soup was like my corn chowder but with Cajun seasoning for a kick and crab meat. The next time Aubree came home for a visit we experimented with making our own and it turned out really well. Our local grocery store had crab legs on sale so we cooked them up, cracked them and added the meat to the soup. I visited Aubree a couple of years later when she was working and living in Boston and she wanted to make the soup since we could get really fresh seafood. We got whole crabs instead of crab legs that neither of us had cooked before and they didn't quite turn out like we planned and we didn't have enough meat for the soup. She had tilapia in her freezer so we sauteed that up and added it to the soup. It was fabulous and a new cheaper version was born. This past summer Aubree was living and working at home and wanted fish corn chowder so I went to get fish from the store but accidentally picked up swai instead of tilapia. We liked the swai so much better, it's a larger fillet and meatier fish so now that's all we use. So that's the evolution of Cajun fish corn chowder. That's the beauty of soup it is so versitile. I usually just eyeball and throw stuff in when I make soups so these aren't exact measurements. I use instant mashed potato flakes to thicken most of my soups instead of flour or cornstarch. It works really well and is stirred in at the end. Now to the recipe.
Cajun Fish Corn Chowder
8 to 10 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed, sometimes I use red or new potatoes and don't peel them
water
1 stick butter
1 pkg frozen corn or 2 to 3 cups of fresh corn
1 onion chopped, any kind, we really like red onions or 1/2 to 1 cup of green onions
1 sweet pepper or bell pepper chopped
1 to 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
4 fillets of fish, swai or tilapia
1 to 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp each salt and pepper, (seasoning salt is great added as well or instead of salt)
1 Tablespoon parsley
1/2 to 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp turmeric
instant mashed potato flakes
1/2 to 1 cup milk
2 to 3 Tablespoons sour cream
2 Tablespoons subfrito (see recipe in Oct post)
Put cut potatoes, salt and pepper in large pot with enough water to cover and boil for 20 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile in skillet saute onion, sweet pepper, subfrito and garlic in 2 tablespoons of butter with salt and pepper until tender. Add fish fillets and sprinkle each side with Old Bay, Cajun seasoning and pepper and cook until fish is done on both sides. When potatoes are done, add corn, rest of butter, turmeric, parsley, Old Bay, and Cajun seasoning. Break up cooked fish and add mixture to potatoes. Thicken soup with instant mashed potato flakes, about 1 cup or so then add milk and sour cream. Add more butter, salt and pepper to taste. This makes a thick chowder, just add more milk if desire.
Enjoy
