Pumpkin Swordfish Chowder

Name: Pumpkin Swordfish Chowder
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1 small red onion, peeled and finely diced, about 1 cup; 2 to 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced, about 1 cup; 1 large carrot, peeled and diced into ¼-inch pieces, about ½ cup; 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes, about 1 cup; 1 medium white potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes, about 1 cup; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour; ½ cup white wine; 2 cups chicken stock; 1 cup heavy cream; 1 pound cooked pumpkin swordfish steak, chopped into ½-inch pieces (substitute with any meaty fish like mahi-mahi); fresh parsley, chopped

Coastal Mains

Pumpkin Swordfish Chowder

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The Strategy:

This recipe transforms the rare, highly coveted pale-orange flesh of pumpkin swordfish into a wildly luxurious, deeply comforting coastal chowder. By sweating a massive amount of aromatic vegetables in rich butter, deglazing violently with crisp white wine, and flooding the pot with heavy cream, the densely meaty swordfish is surrounded by an intensely savory, velvet-smooth broth. Serving heavy, steaming bowls of this pale-orange, heavily textured chowder provides an undeniably high-end, profoundly satisfying meal that completely reframes the concept of seafood leftovers.

Serves: 6 | Total Time: 30 minutes till it’s ready

Ingredients

For the vegetables

2 tablespoons butter
1 small red onion, peeled and finely diced, about 1 cup
2 to 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced, about 1 cup
1 large carrot, peeled and diced into ¼-inch pieces, about ½ cup
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes, about 1 cup
1 medium white potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes, about 1 cup

For the broth base

1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream

For the fish and garnish

1 pound cooked pumpkin swordfish steak, chopped into ½-inch pieces (substitute with any meaty fish like mahi-mahi)
fresh parsley, chopped

Ingredients arranged: a heavy block of cooked pale-orange pumpkin swordfish, bright orange sweet potatoes, vibrant carrots, red onions, crisp celery, fresh thyme, a bottle of white wine, a heavy pitcher of rich cream, butter, and unbleached flour around a heavy cast-iron Dutch oven on a marble prep board.

Instructions

Cook the vegetables

Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a deep soup pot.
Add the onion, celery, and carrot.
Stir and cook until the veggies begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the potatoes.
Cook for 3 minutes more.
Season with salt, pepper, and thyme.
Sprinkle in the flour.
Pour in the wine.
Stir until the liquid thickens and begins to reduce, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Make broth and simmer

Pour in the chicken stock and cream.
Stir in the swordfish.
Reduce the heat and simmer the chowder over low.
Continue to cook until the potatoes soften and the stock is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.
For thicker stock, add more cream. For thinner stock, add more chicken stock.

Thing to Note:

Thing to Note:

A cook's hand using a heavy silver ladle to stir a massive, steaming cast-iron Dutch oven violently boiling with thick, pale-orange cream broth, loaded with massive chunks of meaty pumpkin swordfish and bright sweet potatoes.

Thing to Note

✦ Embrace the Orange: Pumpkin swordfish has a delicate, orange colored flesh. This comes from their diet of pink shrimp and krill. I created this soup to use up leftovers from a special dinner I hosted with friends. I grilled the fish and finished it with a bit of butter. The leftovers were just too delish to go to waste, so this recipe was born. I added carrots and sweet potato to match the orange color of the fish. Any fish will work, and non orange swordfish is just fine. Add more regular spuds if you don’t have sweet potatoes and flavor this rich chowder with any of your favorite spices. You can’t go wrong here!

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The Heart of the Table

Bringing a massive, steaming cast-iron Dutch oven filled with rich, pale-orange swordfish chowder directly to the table instantly shifts the room into a state of deep, relaxed comfort. The heavy aroma of sweet potatoes, thyme, and rich cream filling the air encourages guests to settle in, tearing off massive chunks of crusty bread to aggressively drag through the luxurious, highly textured broth.

8 guests gathered tightly around a rustic table by a roaring fireplace, laughing loudly, dipping crusty bread, and drinking oaked Chardonnay in glasses on a Palm Beach Estate. A massive steaming Dutch oven of Pumpkin Swordfish Chowder anchors the lively coastal dinner party.

Neighborly Grace

THE PRESENTATION: Do not carefully ladle this into delicate bowls. Use heavily oversized, rustic ceramic crocks and aggressively overfill them until the thick, pale-orange broth is threatening to spill over the sides. Shower the surface heavily with bright green chopped parsley and cracked black pepper, ensuring every bowl is packed with massive chunks of the meaty swordfish and sweet potato.
THE POUR: The immense weight of the heavy cream and the dense, meaty texture of the swordfish demand a wine with serious structure and sharp acidity. A fiercely chilled, heavily oaked coastal Chardonnay or a wildly crisp, bone-dry Viognier slices straight through the velvety fat while perfectly complementing the sweet orange root vegetables.
THE VIBE: Deeply comforting, stormy evening dinners. This is the meal you execute when the coastal fog rolls in, served indoors by a roaring fire, demanding an atmosphere of loud, relaxed, and incredibly satisfying indulgence.

Chef’s Recommendations

The Glass Alongside: Classic Whiskey Sour
Thyme, Carried into the Sweet: Iced Thyme-Lemon Pecan Sandies
Something Sharp on the Side: Roasted-Veggie Winter Salad with Meyer Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette
The Warm Bread Companion: Focaccia Bread

The Estate Table

Build tonight’s menu around this dish.

✦ Set the Table

Pumpkin Swordfish Chowder

Pumpkin Swordfish Chowder

The full recipe lives in the Vault

The Heart of the Table

Neighborly Grace

✨ The Gilded Swaps