Tried a new recipe from
Rachel's Irish Family Food Cookbook.
Molly Malone's Cockles and Mussels Chowder
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| Image and recipe via Rachel Allen's Irish Family Food Cookbook |
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
4 ounces smoked bacon, diced
2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces leek, trimmed and very finely diced
4 ounces carrot, very finely diced
10 ounces potato (about 1 medium), peeled and finely diced
2 1/4 pounds mixed cockles and mussels
1 1/4 cups dry white wine
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup light or heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh parsley
Directions:
Heat the sunflower oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and saute for about 1 minute, until crisp and golden.
Add the butter in the pan and melt. Then add the
leek, carrot and potato. Reduce the heat to low and saute gently for 4
to 5 minutes, until soft but not browned.
Meanwhile, prepare the cockles and mussels.
Scrub
the shells clean and discard any that remain open when you tap them
against a hard surface.
Remove the beard — the little fibrous tuft —
from each mussel.
Bring the wine to a boil in a large saucepan and
add the cockles and mussels.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for
3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the shells have
opened.
Remove from the heat, drain the shellfish in a
colander (reserving the cooking juices) and discard any shells that
remain closed. Return the shellfish to the empty pan to keep warm.
Place
a fine sieve over a measuring cup and strain the cooking liquid. You
should have at least 2 1/2 cups; if not, add water to make up that
quantity.
Add the pan juices and the milk to the bacon and
vegetable mixture and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer for 6
to 8 minutes, until the potato is tender.
Add the cream and simmer for
another 2 to 3 minutes, until the soup is reduced and thickened
slightly. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, remove half of the cockles and mussels
from their shells and add them, with the remaining cockles and mussels
still in their shells, to the chowder.
Stir in the parsley and serve at
once.
Here is my version and it was delish!
Serve with brown bread.
I hope you had a great St. Paddy's Day!
Take care,
Claudia
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