LAWRENCE MURPHY: A celebratory chowder enjoyed by all

One of our suppliers, Fred and Sam, have plans to extend their delightful farm shop, which is located in the Stansted Estate.

As you can probably guess, any expansion comes at a cost so they set about raising funds via Kickstarter for their project, along with some of their own money and a bank loan.

I really love the produce that they supply to our restaurant and felt that I had to try and help them out in some way.

We decided to hold a cookery workshop last Sunday at the restaurant and pledged the money we charged on the day towards the new Farm Shop.

We had six of our customers arrive in the morning ready to be taught a few kitchen tips and to produce a bowl of food for their guests who arrived at 1.30pm.

A fun morning was had by all and we managed to cook a mussel and smoked haddock chowder for ourselves and our guests. Everyone enjoyed the chowder so I thought I would write the recipe for you.

Ingredients

600g fresh mussels

500g smoked haddock, cut into 1cm cubes

1 onion, finely-chopped

1 leek, cut into 1cm squares

1 stick celery, chopped

200ml white wine

150ml water

200ml double cream

1 bay leaf

200g celeriac, cut into 1cm squares

Dessert spoon grain mustard

4 eggs

Tablespoon chopped chive

Unsalted butter

Method

1. Heat a knob of butter in a large pan. Add half of the chopped onion.

2. Cook for three minutes without colouring and add the white wine and water. Bring to the boil.

3. Add the mussels, stir and cover with a lid. Wait two minutes and see if the mussels are open. If they are not, cover and cook until they are.

4. Strain the mussels through a sieve, and set aside the stock.

5. Heat a knob of butter in a clean pan until bubbling. Add the other half of the onion, half of the leek and the celery. Cook for four minutes.

6. Add the stock and bay leaf and cook for three minutes,

7. Add the cream and cook for five minutes, during which you can take the mussels from their shells and remove the beards. Throw away any unopened mussels.

8. Liquidise the broth after taking out the bay leaf and sieve into a clean pan. Whisk in the mustard and add the leek and celeriac. Cook for five minutes. Poach the eggs.

9. Add the haddock and mussels and cook for two minutes.

10. Arrange in bowls with the eggs in the middle. Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve.

Lawrence’s restaurant is Fat Olives, Emsworth. Visit fatolives.co.uk or call 01243 377 914.