60g butter

2 spring onions (chopped)

1/3 cup flour

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt & pepper

3 cups of fish stock

2 x medium spuds (cubed)

2/3 cup of sour cream

Chopped parsley

12 mussells (chopped)

160g shrimps (peeled)

130g cubed tarakihi fillets

*naturally other fish ingredients can be substituted or added. These are just the ones I used last time. I quite like the idea of crayfish and scallops but no-one has been kind enough to give me any…..

Melt butter in a pan.

Add the spring onions and fry until softened.

Stir in the flour, cayenne and salt & pepper to taste and cook for 1 minute.

Gradually add the stock and bring to the boil.

Add the seafood ingredients, the potatoes & simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft but still hold their shape.

Stir in the sour cream.

Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

I could live on this…..

1 x 500grm of butter

1 500ml of cream

10 or so fat mussels (well chopped)

10 prawns

12 scallops

2 squid tubes cut into this strips

2 good fillets of a firm fleshed fish (I use trev or snap or kahwai)

1 leek

2 carrots

2 cloves or garlic

1 cup of parsley

1 onion

Fish stock (I simmer (don’t boil, it will make the chowder bitter) a few frames and then sieve the **** out).

Start by melting butter and make a rue with some flour until it’s thick but not clumpy.

Add your fish stock while stirring on a low heat (essential)

Add all your veg and continue to simmer for an hour or so, while stirring (can’t emphasize this enough, stirring continuously)

When your veg is cooked, add all your seafood and continue to simmer for around 10mins.

Thicken if needed with a little cornflour.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

The original recipe also included a tin of creamed corn.  I use just smoked fish and mussels - don't eat seafood marinara after someone told me that the processed fish in it is Baracoutta.  Don't know if this is true but it's now the first thing that comes to mind when I see crab sticks or seafood maranara in the supermarket.