Fancy Fish and Clam Chowder

The extra steps of cooking the potatoes and fish separate help make this dish all the more tasty with more interesting textures than cooking it all in one pot.  Serve with a good crusty french baguette and butter.  Wine recommendation:  Try a nice white Torrontes from Argentina (such as Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes)

Fancy Fish and Clam Chowder
Ingredients

• 6 slices of bacon (trim off any excessive fat; small dice cut)
• 1 - 2 leeks (equivalent of 4-5 inchs of the white to light green portion; cut off root and top leaves leaving only the white and light green portion; slice in half lengthwise and rinse between layers under cold running water to clean; slice each half lengthwise again to quarter, then chop cross sections less than a quarter-inch in width)
• head of garlic (remove any loose pieces of paper from outer layer; cut garlic head in half through center such that one side has the root and the cloves are cut in half.  Peel the half cloves from the non-root side or any that fall out loose from the root side.  Leave paper on the clove halves that stay connected to the root)
• 2 - 3 stocks of celery (clean; cut off ends and slice into small cross-sections about 1 mm thick)
• about 6 - 8 small red or white potatoes (clean potatoes under cold water keeping skin on, but cutting out any impurities; dice potatoes into small bite size cubes)
• 1 can of Cannellini beans (rinse beans to remove can juice from beans)
• fresh thyme (pick leaves off of stems, discard stems; pick enough for 4 healthy tablespoons worth of picked thyme leaves)
• fresh chives (cut into small rings to produce about 1/4 cup worth)
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine (remember, if you would not drink it, you shouldn't cook with it; I typically use an inexpensive pinot gris when using a dry white wine for cooking)
• 1 small jar of clam juice
• 1 box of vegetable stock (roughly 4 cups worth)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Tabasco 
• 24 little neck clams (scrub well under cold running water)
• 4 fillets of tilapia fish (rinse under cold water and pat dry with paper towels, gray sea salt and fresh ground pepper on both sides)
• unsalted butter

Method
Prepare potatoes:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Cover diced potatoes with light oil covering, some gray sea salt and fresh ground pepper (the oil should barely cover the potatoes, not so much to make them greasy).  Spread potatoes into a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven for around 30 minutes until cooked through.

Prepare chowder:  Heat large pot on stove over medium high heat.  Once the pot is warmed, add a tablespoon or so of oil to coat the bottom.  Add bacon and saute until bacon is cooked and slightly crispy.  Remove bacon from pot and drain on a plate or bowl on top of paper towels.  Set aside.  Drain excess bacon fat from pot (but not all of it).  Add leeks and celery to pot and saute for 2 - 3 minutes.  Add garlic (both individual clove pieces and half head) to pot and saute for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Push food contents in pot to the outer edges to make a clearing in the center of the pot.  Melt four tablespoons of butter in the middle.  Once melted, add 2 heaping tablespoons of flour.  Mix and cook into a roux.  Once the roux is fully mixed, add white wine.  Cook for a few minutes to cook out some alcohol (once it reaches a boiling point, it will become very thick given the small amount of liquid relative to the roux).  Add the clam juice, vegetable stock, and heavy cream and stir pot to mix everything together well.  Bring to a boil to continue thickening process, then reduce heat to medium low (around a 4 on a 10 point heat scale).  Add bay leaves, thyme, a few dashes of Tabasco (more if desired), cannellini beans, and a small dash of gray sea salt.  Incorporate roasted potatoes into chowder.  Stir together.  Add clams and cook stirring occasionally.  Start fish cooking at this time (see below).  Chowder is done once all of the clams have opened.

Prepare fish:  This is a standard method for preparing delicious white fish (such as tilapia).  In a non-stick skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of butter until it begins to turn brown (a "brown butter" sauce).  Add fish and cook until the flesh is opaque half way up the side of the flesh; flip the fish and cook the other side until completely opaque (roughly 3 minutes per side depending on thickness of fish).

Assemble:  Spoon chowder into soup bowl (do not serve bay leaves or half head of garlic).  Sprinkle cooked bacon, chopped chives and some freshly ground pepper on top. add a half fillet of cooked fish on top of soup and serve (and enjoy).