Every once in a while I make a dish that no matter how great it tastes, I just can't get past how it looks, and that was the case with this very easy, incredibly delicious scallop chowder. If you do make it, and want a thicker, more traditional chowder base, simply mash some of your potatoes into the mixture.
Ingredients
- olive oil: 2 tsp
- slices bacon: 2 piece (cut into small pieces)
- yellow onion: 0.5 piece (diced)
- rib celery: 1 piece (diced)
- garlic: 2 clove (minced)
- clam juice: 1 bottle (8 ounce bottle)
- low-sodium chicken broth: 1 cup
- Yukon Gold potatoes: 1 cup (cubed)
- pinch cayenne pepper: 1 piece (to taste)
- black pepper: (to taste, freshly ground)
- heavy whipping cream: 0.5 cup
- red Fresno Chili pepper: 1 piece (diced)
- lemon zest: 1 tsp
- salt: (to taste)
- bay scallops: 1 pound
- fresh tarragon: 1 Tbsp (chopped)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir until fat renders and bacon is slightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion to bacon; cook and stir until soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir celery and garlic into onion mixture, cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
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Pour clam juice, chicken broth, potato, cayenne pepper, and black pepper into bacon mixture; bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low, and cook until potatoes are almost tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir cream and chile pepper into potato mixture; bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are completely tender and chowder flavors combine, about 5 minutes. Season with lemon zest and salt.
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Stir scallops into chowder and cook over medium heat until scallops are tender and white, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in tarragon. Chef John