Use-it-up fish chowder

[CardinalBiggles]

it is, and it's versatile ... and either a quick meal to get out of the freezer to heat to have with pasta, or to spend more time over with the trimmings of a pie.  Which I would serve with oven baked broccoli and/or cauliflower but you can use it to stuff marrows or peppers as well.  [I don't like marrow much but I don't turn down free ones from a friend's alotment, I just glaze it with a honey&mustard glaze and fill it with something tasty]

[Jherrith]

Well, now this is certainly a new and unique one for me and yes every so often I have bits left over this sounds like a great way to use them up in a tasty manner

[CardinalBiggles]

this is for when you are sorting out the freezer and find those odd fillets which did not go evenly round the family when you bought them by the pack [they do, now, sadly, since my mother died, as the two of us eat a four pack in two lots, but I make this anyway deliberately.] I usually add a whole pack of 6 fillets of coley as a base and freeze it when cooked. I don't use prawns as they don't like me.
feeds as many people as it feeds depending on what you have.

a pack of white fish as a base, I generally use coley.
smoked haddock, salmon, prawns, whatever there is, including deli counter peppered mackerel, a can of sardines or mackerel. There is never left over tuna; I have cats for whom I also buy prawns. Fortunately the allergy isn't bad enough to be affected by them sitting next to other fish. one large - 3 medium onionsMushrooms [I use a pack of mixed frozen mushrooms; can use fresh or canned]
sweetcornpeas
any other odd veg you feel like.

poach the fish in a casserole in milk to cover with a generous dob of butter on top. Drain milk, reserving it and fish.  Meanwhile lightly saute the veg.

White sauce base:
a handful of plain flour, a good knob of butter, salt and pepper to taste, half a pint or so of milk.  I also add a teaspoon of plain madras curry powder at the end.
Melt butter in saucepan on low heat; add flour, salt and pepper and  melt butter in, and slowly add the milk beating strongly to get rid of lumps.  I guess you can use a liquidiser, but I grew up without one so I use a hand whisk because it only just occurred to me to use technology.   When all milk has been added and starts to thicken, add fish and veg and a spoonful of garam masala or plain madras to taste.

Now you can have been cooking chips or pasta to go with this; I make enough to freeze plenty.  Sometimes I make shortcrust pastry and make pies, sometimes I put a crumble topping on a seafood pie [I use half flour half rolled oats for a crisper and healthier topping]; it goes nicely too with new potatoes as well, or with potatoes sliced on top as a pie. 

You can do the same thing with already cooked chicken/duck/turkey/goose/rabbit without the poaching stage and it's a great way to use up the little bits off the carcass.  If you do it with red meat, use stock instead of milk and make a brown sauce which has a proper name which I have forgotten, but it's not roux which is strictly a white sauce.  You can use stock with fowl as well.