Fish Chowder

Preheat a large soup pot to medium heat. Add the olive oil, potato, and carrot with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

After 4 minutes, when the carrot and potato have slightly softened, add the onion, celery, and chili pepper. Stir, and let cook for 3 minutes more until onion begins to turn translucent.

Strip the leaves from the thyme sprigs. Add the thyme leaves and corn to the vegetable mixture. Stir to combine. The vegetables should be sizzling but not browning too quickly.

Pour seafood stock over the vegetables, adding enough to cover the veggies by 1 inch. Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the potato is very tender.

When veggies are cooked through, add fish fillets (mine were frozen and the soup worked out perfectly) to the broth. Increase the heat to medium and cover the pot again. Cook until the fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes for thawed fish, 10-15 for frozen, depending on the thickness of your fish.

When the fish is cooked through, use a spoon to break it into pieces to distribute throughout the soup.

Combine the cornstarch with 1/2 cup of additional stock. Stir well, and add to the soup. Increase the heat to allow the soup to boil.

Stir in the heavy cream. Taste the soup, and add more salt and pepper if you’d like. If the soup is very thick, add more seafood stock to bring the soup to a consistency that you prefer.

Serve the soup with fresh tomato, extra thyme leaves, and crusty bread.