I started with the large Guy Fieri pot on the stove top and added some bacon fat and butter. I then sliced some regular onion thinly, some Poblano Pepper and diced a couple of stalks of celery into the pot. After a short time, I poured in some chicken stock and then Cream of Celery soup.

I put a bag of frozen Bay Scallops and a bag of frozen, peeled, deveined shrimp into the microwave and set it to 2.0 Defrost setting. This normally runs 15 minutes and at the end the shrimp are completely thawed and just about fully cooked, and pink.

I opened a small can of Cream Corn, and added it to the pot, and then the defrosted Bay Scallops and shrimp and a can of Chopped Clams. I added a small amount of smoked paprika, some gumbo file, marjoram, thyme, garlic powder, cayenne & chipotle pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin & celery seeds and some salt & pepper.

I then recalled I had some whole okra, so I sliced up about five of these thinly and added them to the pot. I quartered a couple of small Campari tomatoes. I diced a small Russet Potato. I like to put the potatoes in toward the end of cooking to control their firmness. If you put them in too soon, they can easily become mushy.

ADDENDUM [ 09/06/23 ]: I like the Crab & Lobster Chowder at the Longhorn Restaurant in Goldsboro, NC. The ingredients may be the same at other of these restaurants, but for whatever reason I like the flavor of this soup there. I’ve also tried this chowder at the Fayetteville (at the Mall) and Southern Pines (across from Maguros) but just didn’t like it as well there. *I ate there yesterday for lunch, and because I had eaten my Seafood Chowder at home that morning, I decided to order a baked potato (sour cream & butter) with my burger instead of the chowder. This is rare because I normally order the cheeseburger, cooked medium-well, with American cheese, and the crab & lobster chowder as my side. I also normally ask for water, instead of any other drink.

NOTE [ 11/15/23 ]: I followed the above recipe, and added a couple of Bay leaves, some parsley flakes and a little Dulse. Oh, and I shredded a little cod fish. I couldn’t find any file gumbo (powdered sassafrass leaves?). I didn’t have creamed corn, but had a small container of what appeared to be white corn kernels in the freezer. Recall from my Shrimp, Kielbasa & Zucchini dish that I add just a couple of Campari tomatoes, diced, in order to make the sauce reddish, but not with an overpowering tomato flavor. I guess I am doing the same thing here. I want just a hint of tomato flavor, but I don’t want a tomato based chowder. **I may want to leave out the Cream of Celery Soup and the Half-n-Half creamer some time and add more tomatoes to see if I like a “Manhattan Style” instead of a “New England Style” chowder. Although those two terms may only apply to clam chowder. I do not know.

I can already tell from sampling the broth that this is a REALLY good seafood chowder. Oh, I roasted the poblano pepper before adding it to the chowder. But, as I knew, you can’t make just a little of this chowder. You end up making about 3 quarts, so you can’t start with the 3 quart pot, and you’re going to need to freeze a bunch of this. But, this is really good stuff!

I bought a bag of diced, frozen okra at Walmart today, and that came in perfect to add to the chowder.

NOTE [ 11/25/23 ]: Oh my, I may have hit on another concoction that could be consistently pleasing, Seafood Chowder!

Bacon Fat Margarine Onion (diced finely) Poblano Pepper (roast) Jalapeno Pepper (roast) Chipotle Pepper (ground) Cayenne Pepper (ground) Red Pepper Flakes Brazilian Starfish Pepper Bequinho Pepper	Shrimp Bay Scallops Chopped Clams Cod Fish Corn (or creamed corn) Okra (diced) Zucchini (diced) Irish Potato (peeled, diced) Celery Tomatoes (yellow & red cherry)	Cream of Celery Soup Half-n-Half Chicken Stock Thyme (Mediterranean) Garlic Powder Onion Flake Bay Leaf Cumin Seed Dulse S&P (Indian Long Pepper ground)

I decided to make another batch of my seafood chowder this morning. But, I didn’t want to make too much so I started with a 2 Qt. sauce pan. I put in a healthy supply of bacon fat to start, and finely diced about half a regular onion. [Normally, I leave my onion in small chunks in soups & stews.] I diced up some Poblano, Jalapeno, Brazilian Starfish & Bequinho peppers and added some ground Chipotle & Cayenne pepper. [I’ve enjoyed the flavors & colors of the Brazilian Starfish and Bequinho peppers, but these are the last of these for this season. I buy them at the State Farmer’s Market in Raleigh. I was able to get them one year, but this past year I kept asking and they never had them. Or never had them when I was there asking.]

The four seafood items I am currently using in this chowder include: shrimp, bay scallops, chopped clams & cod fish. I bought the shrimp frozen, at Publix. These come, peeled, deveined and tails off. I bought the bay scallops at Publix, but if they had been frozen, they had been thawed by the time I purchased them at their seafood counter. I bought codfish at Publix. I’ve never put any fish in my seafood chowder until the past two times. The codfish has a fibrous texture. ***I may want to check the price of cod fish at Harris Teeter next time. They had a special that was about $4 cheaper per pound than Publix, but I asked at their regular price is about the same.

I used Snow’s Chopped Clams which I’ve used for years in my Linguine & Clams (Knorr Pesto to flavor).

I like the flavor of okra, and prefer to buy fresh okra, at Pate’s, for when I am going to pan fry them. But, the okra season is about over at Pate’s so I bought a bag of frozen okra at Walmart. The whole frozen okra were about three times cheaper than the already diced okra so I bought the cheaper and cut them up before throwing them in the pot. They weren’t frozen hard, so they were easy to cut with a knife. *I just checked online and the prices for the whole & diced okra is almost the same. It looks like someone had mislabeled a more expensive, cut okra.

I usually have a couple of zucchini on hand, because I use them in my Zucchini, Shrimp & Kielbasa dish. But this time, I had one zucchini left, wasn’t planning to make my other dish any time soon, and didn’t want it to rot. I diced the zucchini up in a fairly small dice. I only put in a few, small cherry tomatoes, diced, so that the tomato flavor does not overpower the dish. I added celery for flavor & a couple of Bay Leaves.

Chicken stock, Cream of Celery soup & Half-n-Half help bring all the flavors together. The rest of the ingredients are for assorted flavors.

I leave my potato until the very last because I don’t want it to become mushy, and it really only takes about 4 minutes for it to heat through, but not become mushy.

So, this batch of Seafood Chowder was so delicious, that I had a bowl of it with a slice of White Mountain Bread, for breakfast, instead of the egg salad & bacon that I had originally scheduled.

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[NOTE 02/21/24]: Haven’t made this in a while, but I recall, it was really good, almost addictive in wanting “more” after I had tasted a little. The spiciness is the key. Start with the large pot and with the idea that there is going to be a lot, and some will need to be frozen before the next helping.

The Brazilian Starfish Peppers are only going to be available at the end of the summer (if they are sold again at the State Farmers’ Market next year). [end NOTE]