I love Steve’s Birthday! Well I love all birthdays because they are such happy occasions… but I especially love Steve’s birthday because then we get seafood at lunch.

Now you may be asking why we deserve such largesse. In my last Friday lunch blog, I mentioned that we celebrate birthdays at Media-X in the course of our regular Friday lunch. And we usually try to take the tastes of the individual into account. Steve is our boss. He is the founder of our company and the person who loves to drive us nuts. And spoil us. So since we like to show our respects to him and he loves seafood, that’s what he gets for lunch when it’s his birthday…or any other time he chooses!

Today, we celebrated with a mixed lunch providing something for seafood lovers and non-seafood lovers alike. We had a Greek salad, rolls and sliced meats and cheeses. We also had some shrimp rings, garlic bread and some yummy seafood chowder. Dessert was a delicious assortment of Steve’s favourite cupcakes including Red Velvet, Peanut Butter, Coconut, S’mores, Strawberry-Kiwi and Lemon.

And yes… we sang and embarrassed him!

Seafood Chowder Recipe

Serves 15. Time approx. 45 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 10 slices of bacon
  • 6 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
  • 2 sweet onions, diced or 3 cups thinly sliced leeks (white part)
  • 3 stalks celery, sliced
  • 4 potatoes, diced
  • 2 carrots, finely diced
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • 4 cups chicken or fish stock
  • 4 cups of assorted seafood (whatever combination you like of diced fish, calamari, shrimp, crab, scallops, lobster, clams etc.)
  • 4 cups milk and one block of light cream cheese cut into small cubes or 4 cups cream
  • ½ tsp Thyme
  • ¼ tsp chopped Rosemary

Method:

  • Chop bacon in 1 inch pieces and cook in a heavy sauce pan.
  • Add onions (or leeks) and celery. Sautee until clear, stirring frequently. Add garlic in the last few minutes of cooking so it does not burn.
  • Transfer to a large pot.
  • Add the chicken or fish stock, potatoes, carrots and seasonings. Cook vegetables until tender, approximately 15 minutes.
  • Add the seafood, cut into bite – size pieces. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes but watch to make sure contents do not stick to the bottom of the pot.
  • Add the milk/cheese or cream. Heat but … DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL!
  • At this point you should perhaps sprinkle a little chopped parsley over it and serve it with some nice bread and a salad.
  • Sit back and enjoy the chowder and compliments.