marmir

When our family decided to move a bit down the Kashrut path, one of the dishes we had to give up was the clam chowder. Since then, I've tried different chowders that would be relatively easy to make at home, and would provide similarly complex taste. I finally landed on this one, mostly based on this recipe: http://www.beyondsalmon.com/2006/02/smoked-trout-and-fennel-chowder.html, with small variations from this one: https://jewinthecity.com/2018/05/best-ever-new-england-style-clam-chowder. Note that this chowder actually tastes better on the second day.

Ingredients:
- Stick of butter
- 4 ounces soy bacon (obviously, real bacon or even turkey bacon would taste better, but I am going for a kosher-style dish)
- 6 king oyster mushrooms, diced (those do not add too much to taste, but add texture most similar to the clams)
- fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced (reserve fronds for garnish)
- garlic cloves, sliced paper thin
- Lb red skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4” dice
- tsp chopped thyme and/or rosemary
- hot-smoked trout fillets, skin and bones removed
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 8 cups vegetable broth (can use water instead)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Salt and pepper


Preparation:
- Heat a heavy pot over low heat.
- Crumple the bacon and saute in 2 tablespoons of butter
- Once bacon is crispy, throw in the rest of the stick of butter and cook until butter melts - this creates "pork rind drippings".
- Take bacon out with slotted spoon
- Throw oyster mushrooms into the butter. Cook until they are soft and take them out of the pot
- At this point, if soy & mushrooms have absorbed most butter, add a bit of oil; normally, though, you'll still have plenty left. Turn heat to high
- Add fennel and cook stirring occasionally until nicely browned, about 7 minutes. Don’t stir too much so that fennel has a chance to brown and develop flavor.
- Turn down the heat to medium. Add garlic, potatoes and thyme (or rosemary), season generously with salt and pepper and cook stirring occasionally until garlic is aromatic and tender, about 2 minutes.
- Break up trout into chunks and add to the pot.
- Add wine, vegetable broth, and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Taste and correct seasoning. Liquid should be well salted since potatoes will absorb a lot of salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered until potatoes are very tender, 30-40 minutes.
- Add the sauteed oyster mushrooms back into the pot
- Turn off the heat and add cream
- To serve, ladle chowder into bowls, and sprinkle soy bacon and chopped fennel fronts on top