Conch Chowder

[buzzard767]

Living on the gulf coast has its advantages. At a local farmers market I can get stone crab claws for $13/lb, tuna, red snapper, and conch for $10/lb, and grouper for $13/lb, all roughly half of what the super markets and fish markets charge. Except for the conch, which was probably originally frozen, the fish are very fresh. The conch comes from either the Bahamas or the Carribbean as they are an illegal catch here in the U.S.

Here's an excellent recipe for conch chowder. I love the stuff and make a batch every other Saturday. When I cook for me the conch is cut into 1/4 to 1/2" chunks. Because it has that "slippery" feel in the mouth, when I cook for guests I puree the meat. Most restaurants puree both the meat and the vegetables. I think they're hiding the fact that there isn't much conch in their version......

BAHAMIAN CONCH CHOWDER

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 red or green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
¼ tsp ground allspice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves

1 cn diced tomatoes
1 cn clam juice
2 cups chix broth

1 lb conch meat (3 or 4 queen conchs) chopped fine – I like to cut at least half into bite sized chunks

1 tbsp vinegar
6 sprigs parsley, chopped
4 scallions, minced
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste

In a large saucepan , medium heat, saute' the onion, celery, carrots, red or green pepper, potato, thyme, red pepper flakes, allspice, garlic, and bay leaves for 5 minutes or more in olive oil until they begin to soften.

Add the tomatoes, clam juice, and broth. Heat to boiling, then reduce to simmer.

Add conch and simmer for 35 minutes, uncovered.

Add vinegar, parsley, scallions, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Serves 8

[jeff]

Thanks for the write up!

Next time you make it snap off a few pics =)

[buzzard767]

Originally Posted by jeff

Thanks for the write up!

Next time you make it snap off a few pics =)

Okay I will.

Here are the conch, cleaned but untrimmed.





Trimmed, sliced, and cubed.





The veggies used. I pulled my Yoshikane 240mm Gyuto to save some time.





The peeler is a Messermeister serrated. This is the best on the planet and inexpensive to boot. Even Cooks Illustrated agrees with me.



All of the ingredients except for salt and pepper.





Simmering before adding the conch.





Finished product.

[jeff]

Well two things. first, if you link the image only, it will work fine, you had the link going to photobuckets image viewer.

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...der/conch6.jpg

However, if you can, click (edit post) then click (go advanced) then do upload photos. I try to keep my pictures at 640x480 but that's not a must, as long as the pictures meet the minimum size requirement you should be fine.

Also another option for hosting pictures is to use the gallery here, you can easily upload and store photos using this site for free.

http://www.handsonkitchen.com/forum/gallery/index.php

go there and make your own album and start uploading! as you'll notice I store lots of random stuff, so put whatever you want up.

As far as cooking threads go, try to use the upload picture feature, it will save time for you and also make it so 2-3-4-5 years from now the pictures will still be with the thread, even if you delete your photobucket account.


Just so you know, I have a limit of around 100k and 800x600 for file size using the uploader. However the hands on kitchen gallery will take I think any size picture.

[buzzard767]

Originally Posted by jeff

Also another option for hosting pictures is to use the gallery here, you can easily upload and store photos using this site for free.

Done!