Sweetcorn chowder with cod recipe

Corn chowder is a lovely thick and creamy soup, similar to New England clam chowder, another North American favourite, but with corn instead of clams, which, like a hearty stew, is a great way of warming up your family on a cold winter’s day. The word, incidentally, is a corruption of chaudière, a type of French pot in which the first chowders were cooked, on the eastern seaboards of Canada and the United States.

Ingredients

• 2tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• ½ to 1 green chilli, trimmed, deseeded and finely chopped
• 400g potato, peeled and finely diced
• 250g frozen sweetcorn
• 600ml full fat milk
• 300ml fish stock
• Salt

To serve:

• 2tbsp sunflower oil
• 400g cod fillet, free from skin and bone, cut into small cubes
• 2tbsp freshly chopped parsley

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy base pan and fry the onion with the chilli (use as much or as little chilli as you like) until softened (about 5 mins).
2. Add the potato and sweetcorn and mix well, then add the milk and fish stock, stir gently and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 mins, or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt.
3. Meanwhile, in a non-stick frying pan, heat the oil, add the cubes of fish and fry, turning carefully until the fish is cooked.
4. Stir the cooked fish into the potato and sweetcorn mixture, mix gently, and simmer for another minute or so, then spoon into warm bowls and garnish with parsley.