{"id":1011,"date":"2016-02-26T12:37:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T17:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/?p=1011"},"modified":"2016-11-09T11:24:21","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T16:24:21","slug":"finnan-haddie-i-hardly-knew-ye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/?p=1011","title":{"rendered":"Finnan Haddie Chowder, or I Can See For Miles and Miles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Finnan<\/a>I haven’t seen the coast for a while, and I miss it. I yearn for the kiss of salt air on my face and that unique, windy smell in my hair. I live in New York city, and when I get away it’s usually up the Hudson river, towards quaint towns and small farms. This winter has been many things: the season of majestic blizzards; walls of white snow which were soon washed away by rain- and the season of biting, crystal clear days, alternating with damp, warm, gloomier ones.\u00a0 Settling into a mode is hard; however much the thermometer varies, I feel that it’s wise to hunker down for the long haul of winter- stay tough and be prepared for anything. I often wonder if warm winter getaways merely torture you and weaken your resolve; as a New Englander, I know that you need to be prepared for hardship until the first week of April is through.<\/p>\n

Today the sky is coastal grey and I’m wishing I could see for miles. My personal mood board looks like this: Aran sweaters knit in creamy sheepswool; narrow lanes edged by stone walls. A fisherman\u2019s hands, and ropes all faded and worn; seagulls on bleak northern beaches. It’s Ireland’s Brittas Bay, the softest scarf, and the green plaid Tam O’Shanter my grandmother brought from Nova Scotia when I was five; bare twigs and early spring grass. I dress myself in cream, greys, and pale blues and I drift away to the docks over a bowl of creamy chowder.<\/p>\n

Finnan Haddie Chowder<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I like the excellent cold-smoked haddock (Finnan Haddie) from Maine’s Stonington Seafood company: stoningtonseafood.com<\/a><\/p>\n

1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 medium leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced<\/p>\n

2 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tablespoons unsalted butter<\/p>\n

1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 medium bulb celeriac, trimmed and cut into large dice (about \u00be inch)<\/p>\n

3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice (about \u00be inch)<\/p>\n

coarse salt (sea salt of course!)<\/p>\n

6 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 stems of fresh thyme<\/p>\n

1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 dried bay leaf<\/p>\n

1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 fillet (about 8 ounces) naturally smoked haddock (finnan haddie)<\/p>\n

3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 cups water<\/p>\n

1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 cup whole milk<\/p>\n

Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat, and add leeks. Stir leeks, add a pinch of salt; cover to steam until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes and celeriac, thyme, bay leaf and water; raise heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat until simmering gently and then cook, partially covered, until potatoes are just beginning to break down and celeriac is tender, 12-15 minutes.<\/p>\n

Stir in the milk and gently place the haddock, whole, in the pot. Press to submerge the haddock and cover the pot. Cook just long enough to heat through, about 5 minutes. Lift haddock from the pot; pull off skin and flake it into large pieces. Fish out the thyme stems and bay leaf. Return haddock to pot, stir gently and cook for 2 minutes. Season with freshly ground pepper and serve with crisp, toasted croutons.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0086\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven’t seen the coast for a while, and I miss it. I yearn for the kiss of salt air on my face and that unique, windy smell in my hair. I live in New York city, and when I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,7],"tags":[122,202,106,43,120,124,150,216,205,135,121,9,116],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ICYG-gj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annakovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}