I love fish chowder. And the best place I’ve ever had it is the Dolphin Restaurant in Harpswell, Maine. It is virtually “loaded” with fish that taken right off the boat…literally. And, every bowl comes with a gigantic Blueberry Muffin! What could be better than sitting, looking out at the ocean, slurping on a big bowl of fish chowder, and a Blueberry Muffin on a beautiful Summer’s day? Not much!
Dolphin Restaurant Then….
Dolphin Restaurant Now!
But if you can’t go to the Dolphin Restaurant, I think this chowder comes darn near close. Its based on Jasper White’s recipe which uses a whopping 3 pounds of fish. The bottom line is making sure the fish goes in at the end, so it stays in big chunks without much stirring. If you use Cod it will break apart a little more easily than Haddock. Either way, it is delicious.
Fish Chowder
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
This chowder is loaded with fish, potatoes and cream.
Ingredients
- 4 oz. salt pork
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 6–8 sprigs thyme, leaves only
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 lb. potatoes (about 5-6), diced
- 2 bottles clam juice
- 1 can chicken broth
- 2 c. water
- 3 lb. haddock, skinned & boned
- 1–1/2 c. heavy cream
- 1 c. half & half
- Render fat from salt pork. R
Instructions
- Render fat from salt pork. Remove pieces. Add butter, onions, thyme & bay leaves; cook 5-8 minutes. Add potatoes, clam juice, chicken stock & water to half fill an 8 qt stockpot. Make sure you slightly cover the potatoes. Cook potatoes 10 minutes. Add salt & pepper. Add fish and cook for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let sit for 10 minutes. Gently stir in cream.
- * Can substitute milk for some or all of the cream, depending on how rich you would like the chowder. Try to keep the stirring to a minimum so the pieces of the fish stay as whole as possible.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
6 Comments
Hamilton Courtney
June 29, 2012 at 9:58 amFish chowder is definitely my favourite soup, a local restaurant of mine does a blended mussel chowder and it is just sublime
This recipe looks wonderful, will definitely try it out this summer!
SJ
June 30, 2012 at 12:30 amHamilton, this chowder really hits the spot! Especially with the amount of fish put in to it. It’s a meal in itself!
NKB
November 11, 2017 at 5:51 pmDolphin Marina has the best fish chowder I have ever tasted, and this recipe comes very close to the original. It is a meal in itself (a better meal if you find the Dolphin Marina blueberry muffin recipe, which is also online), and everyone I have served it to raves about it. Thanks for bringing the best of Maine to my table!
Sandie
January 11, 2018 at 5:10 pmTotally agree! Now I am craving that delicious chowder!
Lynn Tomins
September 12, 2018 at 5:38 pmWhere did you find the blueberry muffin recipe please. Just went to the restaurant on Monday and they were closed. I waited all year for chowder and a muffin.
Sandie
September 12, 2018 at 11:44 pmHi Lynn, I don’t have their exact recipe. I do have a gazillion on my blog as I am obsessed with Blueberry Muffins. The post had Jasper White’s Fish Chowder recipe which is pretty darn close to the Dolphin’s. I know the muffins have cinnamon in them. I heard the owner mention that. I found a recipe on swanhouse.com which is from Maine that sound close. I thought the Dolphin was open until Columbus Day. And they’re hours say Wed through Sunday in September, so not sure why they were not open.