Finally. A recipe interesting enough to share. I planned to tell you how I’m feeling all better now but then I managed to jam my lower back rolling out off bed. How pathetic is that? Now I need help putting  my socks on. So romantic. No wonder my poor husband falls all over himself trying to help out. Poor dear.

This recipe is easy enough to prepare even when operating at approximately 23% of your capacity. Take my word for it. The smell that fills your house is divine and my chowder-loving-fancy-golf-course-hopping neighbor said it was one of the best she had. Not bad for sore self-pitying shadow of a blogger.

I set out to create a hybrid between Bouillabaisse which is a French fiery red fish stew and a creamier chowder. To add tang to the base flavor I used a teaspoon of Harissa, which is a North African hot chili paste. Many Chowders are started by frying some bacon. I  chose to add 1 dried mushroom to my pot and found that it rendered it a subtle deeper taste. If you do not have Harissa, try adding some other chili sauce. No Shiitake mushrooms? try one of the other dried variety or omit it altogether.

I served this creamy chowder with my home made whole wheat cheddar biscuits, which are even easier to make. Yum. You won’t believe the speed in which these disappear.

Slow-Cooker Corn and Fish Chowder

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed. I pour boiling water on them while gathering the rest of my ingredients.
1 can (540 ml) corn kernels
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 leafy celery sticks, finely chopped
2 Tbsp butter or canola oil
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
5 Tilapia fillets, cubed (approx. 500 gr or 1lb) – I used frozen.
1/2 to 1 tsp Harissa paste (depending of how tangy you want your soup to be)
1 cup chopped parsley
2 bay leafs
1 liter (4 cups) chicken, fish or vegetable broth
1 dry shiitake mushroom
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

1. In a microwave safe bowl, place onions, celery, oil and flour. Mix well and cook for about 3 minutes, until the onions are translucent and smell nice.

2. Put onion mixture in your slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients, all except the cream.

3. Cook for a minimum of 3 hours on LOW. At that point, my potatoes were already soft and the fish well cooked but I definitely think It could cook for another hour or two if needed.

4. Add the cream. Discard the mushroom (or eat it. But don’t tell anyone). Your done. Now go dip in some biscuits.