Yes, really. Fish Chowder.
I made the most exquisite fish chowder last night. I'm going to attempt to recreate it as a recipe here, but as all of my cooking is improvised, I don't know exactly what I did. But here goes:
(but first, you need some music to listen to while doing this: {See Below}
Ingredients-
- Hulled Barley, maybe it was a ¼ cup?
- Medium Onion
- Medium Tomato
- Zucchini
- Four or Five Crimini Mushrooms
- Chicken Bouillon Cube (I use the “not chicken” vegetarian bouillon)
- Black Pepper
- Tamari (Soy Sauce)
- 4 Cloves of Garlic, lightly smashed and peeled
- Several Sprigs of Parsley and Cilantro- not a garnish, but a green vegi in their own right.
- Two 9" fillets of fish (I had trout- I think any light-flavored fish would be good)
- Enough Water to cover the ingredients.
All ingredients are organic (pesticides mess up the flavor)
Here's what I did with all this stuff- if I remember correctly…
- I started out the barley and the water. I brought it to a boil.
- While that was heating up, I sliced the onion rather thin, and added it.
- Next came the garlic.
- The bouillon cube and the black pepper- freshly and liberally ground right in.
- I put the tomato in somewhere around now- cut into large chunks. It cooks all the way down.
- (Let it simmer for a while)
- When the onions were becoming a little transparent, I added the zucchini, which I had cut into ½" medallions, and the mushrooms which I put in whole.
- Then, everything else, except for the fish, went in. The parsley and cilantro were cut up small.
- Right around now, a couple of splashes of soy sauce. Not too much- you can always add more later if you want to.
- When the barley was fully cooked (the barley is the pacer), I added the slabs of fish.
- I let it cook until the fish was done and flaky.
Serve! Mmm MMM!
I hope this comes out as good as it did the first time! It tasted like something in a high-end Asian restaurant, kind of like really good Pho, but not sweet.