That sounds great!
Almost makes me want to do a group tandem

Gang,

I thought I'd add a good receipe for your consideration and hopefully, enjoyment.

There was an article in BWJ a while that described a Finnish fish chowder, Kalamojakka.  Kala – fish, mojakka - soup.  A bit of digging around showed various ways to prepare and varied ingredients, no doubt, depending on what was traditionally at hand, as most recipes tend to base from.   The author stated that the ingredient that made it a traditional Kalamojakka was the addition of pickling spice.  I like creative cooking and put together my own concoction.  The pickling spice adds a unique, if a bit peppery flavor and it turned out quite nice.  Just make sure you put it into a spice bag, cheese cloth or something similar, as like with Bay leaves, you’ll prefer not to eat those seasonings whole, but take them out. 

Bear Creek makes some pretty good dry soup mixes, found at most grocery stores.  I started with their Creamy Potato soup mix (makes 8, subdivide as needed per group size) as my base.  I use the following ingredients for four healthy servings:
• ½ package Bear Creek Creamy Potato soup mix
• 1 package Backpacker’s Pantry Vegetable Medley
• 1 package pre-cooked bacon (about 2.25 oz size), chopped or crumbled
• 1 large onion, coarsely diced
• Powdered milk, equivalent to make 5 cups liquid
• 1 Tbsp pickling spice (in a spice bag or equiv.)
• Fish, filleted and cubed (one decent 18-20 inch trout, walleye or ?)
• 5 cups water

In a 2 qt or larger pot, sauté the onion and bacon.  Add the spice bag and water and heat to near boiling.  Add the vegetable medley and then stir in the powdered milk.  Heat to a simmer and slowly stir in the soup mix.  Simmer that for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and the soup has thickened.  Add the fish and simmer another 2-3 minutes, cover if you have one, remove from heat and let that sit for about 5 minutes.  Garnish with some reserved bacon bits or crushed crackers.  Don’t eat the spice bag.  Enjoy your chowder! 
pd   

prouboy,

Best thing about the Cache lk chowder is that it's good even if you don't add/have fish at all

I bring foil packed Albacore tuna/chicken and if I'm tired or haven't caught something, I throw that in.

I like Zatarains Brand New Orleans products.
Any of their recipes that call for adding ground meat or sausage chunks will work well with any fish you have.

There spicy so be careful with any additional heat.

PhantomJug wrote on May 6^th, 2012 at 4:49am:


Okay, Okay!  I went out and saw my baby granddaughter today.  Does that count?

Someday, if I can hold this body together, I'll take that little one canoeing. 

prouboy

Thanks Joe!

prouboy

Puckster wrote on May 6^th, 2012 at 3:17am:

Only if you have to.

Try this:

1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 tsp pepper (orig recipe was half white, half black, but I use all black)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp sage

Triple recipe to get one spice islands spice jar full.

Puckster wrote on May 6^th, 2012 at 3:17am:


Yes, yes you do.

prouboy... I like Old Bay with Blackening spice. It comes in a   2.25 oz. shaker can ...in the traditional Old Bay yellow colored container.

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I use it all the time for my Cajun Blackened walleye, and I am sure it would go well in a fish chowder.

By the way you have to try sprinkling regular Old Bay seasoning on walleye that have been breaded and fried. Hmmm. We also religously use Old Bay for spicing up water we use for fish, shrimp or lobster boils.

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blackening spice?? 

can you find that in the "spice aisle" of your local grocery store? 

I need to get out of the house more...

prouboy

FWIW, the Kerr brand "red beans and rice" with fish chunks is pretty tasty.  We would marinate the fish in butter with blackening spice and add it in last minute.  Not exactly chowder but a good camping hot-dish.