The other day, I was looking around in the freezer for something to cook up for dinner. I had a bunch of frozen sole fillets (bought cheap at the Chinese market) and I’ve always wanted to try out making some non-cream based fish chowder. As luck would have it, that same day I had watched an episode of Rachel Ray’s illfated but well-meaning $40 a Day and she got a version of tomato based fish chowder at one of the restaurants featured.

So I hopped on Food Network.com and hacked together a Cheap Eats recipe from the one from the restaurant on that show. I had a really hard time getting it to go under three dollars, but I figured I’d post it up anyways. It turned out halfway decent. Oh, by the way, I know there are a lot of fish chowder purists out there that are going to say that this ain’t no Manhattan type chowder. You’d be right. I’m chowder-dumb, really. All I know is that there is a tomato based kind and a cream based kind. I made the tomato based kind and for lack of a descriptive title called it Manhattan Fish Chowder:

Manhattan Fish Chowder

Fish, such as sole (1 lb at $1.50/lb) — $1.50
Butter (1 tbsp of $1.00 4 oz stick) — $0.13
1/2 yellow onion, chopped — $0.30
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped — $0.25
1 whole carrot, chopped — $0.10
2 stalks celery, chopped — $0.10
1 large potato, cubed - $0.15
Parsley (1/4 cup chopped from $0.69 bunch) — $0.06
Petite diced tomatoes (1 can) — $0.50
Tomato paste - (2 tbsp of $0.30 4 oz can) — $0.07
1 teaspoon hot sauce — $0.05
Crushed red pepper flakes — $0.05
Worcestershire sauce (1/2 tsp of $3.00 bottle) — $0.03
Vodka (2 tbsp of $8.99 1.75 L bottle) — $0.25
1 can chicken stock — $0.50
2 cups water — negligible
Salt / pepper — negligible

Total: $4.04

If fish is frozen, defrost in microwave in short 1 minute intervals, turning fish fillets frequently. Be careful not to cook the fish on accident…

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the yellow onion, celery, and chili pepper and saute until tender about 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for another minute. Add carrot, red pepper, potato, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Turn up heat to high and add the diced tomatoes, chicken stock, water, hot sauce, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and vodka. Simmer over medium heat for 1 hour. Add the sole and stir until the fish is coated and distributed in the chowder. Cook until just done, about 5 minutes. Serve in bowls and sprinkle parsley on top of each.

Believe it or not, the sole fillets can be had where I am for probably LESS than $1.50 a pound. It’s actually flash-frozen and comes in bags of about 8 fillets for about 10 dollars or so. One thing I learned, just because fish looks fresh doesn’t mean it’s neccesarily fresher than the frozen kind in bags. It all depends. I think they flash-freeze the fish actually on the ship at times, and if the turnover rate is high enough, you could be getting fairly fresh fish that has never been defrosted yet. On the other hand, the “fresh” fish fillets you see in the glass cases HAVE been defrosted most of the time (unless local, of course).

Of course the best kind is fresh-caught locally, but not everyone can get that. Just something to keep in mind though.

There are innumerable ways to transform this recipe. I’ve often seen Grouper (a salt water fish that resembles and overgrown seabass) called for in chowders, though it’s not readily available where I am. I’ve also seen red snapper, rock cod, sole, bass, and perch called for. I tend to like to add any seafood at the last minute before serving, but many recipes actually add the fish up to 2 hours before serving! Wouldn’t this make it tough? Though, I remember something on Alton Brown’s Good Eats about an “equilibrium temperature” after which fish can be kept in cooking liquid for an indefinite period of time. Not sure if this will work with simmered chowder though. I think it was something to do with poached fish?

I’ve used Petite Diced Tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes and tomato sauce because it’s more convenient. Tomato paste is pretty important as it gives the chowder some density and depth. Some people like to use white wine or sherry in the chowder, deglazing the pan or even adding a bit near the end… but I used vodka because I happened to have that on hand. I also like to add it near the beginning to cook out the alcohol, but that’s just me.

Some people use Clam Juice as the base (though expensive), or homemade fish stock (recommended, if you’ve got the fish heads!). You can actually make a pretty decent stock out of reserved shrimp shells… simply boil the shells in water for 25 minutes or so an then press through a sieve. I used chicken stock here because I happened to have it. It makes a less “seafoody” chowder but still I was pretty pleased with the turnout. This doesn’t get really good Cheap Eats marks of course, because I’ve overrun my $3 budget…

Cheap Eats Score: 6/10