Flexitarian: Seafood/Mullosc chowder

Went to the beach this weekend and took an empty cooler in search of fresh seafood. Found some! I made what I am calling Mullosc chowder with fresh clams, oysters, and smoked mussels. I just did my weekly shopping at the produce stand yesterday so I had plenty of vegetables to play with too.

Mullosc Chowder

1 red onion, small dice

3 shallots diced

3-4 small cloves garlic

4 stalks celery, diced

3 small carrots grated

1 red bell pepper diced small

1 leek, quartered and sliced

1/2 fennel bulb diced (Use some of the fresh leaves for garnish)

1/2 lb, 1/2 bunch asparagus spears, bias cut

2 TB coconut oil

1 TB dried dill

1 TB Savory

Sea salt to taste

dash of cayenne pepper

2 TB chopped fresh parsley

2-3 cups low sodium vegetable broth

2 doz little neck clams steamed, coarse chop

1 doz small oysters, coarse chop

1/2 doz smoked mussels

5-6 red potatoes, diced

I sauteed the onions, leeks, and shallots in the coconut oil, adding the salt and herbs as they cook. When they were tender I added the celery, fennel, and garlic. After a few minutes I added the chopped red pepper and grated onion. I covered the vegetable mixture with 2 cups vegetable broth and 2-3 cups water. To this I added the clams, oysters, and mussels and brought to just a boil then simmered for about 30 minutes.

I thickened the soup similar to the way Morgaine did the other day in her soup. The diced potatoes were cooked in a separate saucepan just covered in 1 cup vegetable broth and water. When the potatoes were tender, but still firm, I took them out of the water and set aside.

When the water and potatoes cooled a bit, I put some of them in a blender with the water they cooked in until it was creamy mixture. I poured this mixture into the soup pot and added the rest of the cooked diced potatoes. I had some nice slender baby asparagus, I thought would be nice to add so I put that in last as it doesn't take too long to cook. I let this all simmer for about 20 minutes. I added the chopped parsley at the end.

This is a nice creamy, seafood chowder,without adding any cream. My husband just said, "Man this is good" and finished the model in this photo before I was finished typing this.

We caught the sunrise this morning too. The whole day was this good!

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