If you have a good fish market near you, I would ask them about availability of getting a cod or haddock that has been just gutted (or headed and gutted) rather than filleted. That would give you the racks to prepare the fish stock. I found another copy of this recipe whre it says you can use the bones from sole, flounder, halibut and/or turbot. Would any of those be easier for you to come by instead of cod or haddock? Also, if you have pollack available, definitely consider it for chowder. It is a wonderfully mild white fish. I guess if you really cant get the stuff for fish stock, then I would try the shrimp stock or combination of shrimp stock and clam juice. I did find Jasper White's Rich Fish stock recipe on the Food & Wine site..... Rich Fish Stock MAKES ABOUT 2 QUARTS ingredients 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 medium celery ribs, thinly sliced crosswise 2 medium onions, thinly sliced crosswise 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced crosswise 2 bay leaves 6 to 8 thyme sprigs 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns 4 pounds nonoily fish bones, heads and trimmings, rinsed well 1/4 cup dry white wine 6 cups very hot tap water Sea salt directions Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the celery, onions, carrots, bay leaves, thyme, parsley and peppercorns to the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in the fish bones, heads and trimmings and the wine. Cover and cook, stirring once, until the bones turn completely white, about 15 minutes. Add the hot water, stir gently and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir once and let stand for 10 minutes. Strain the stock through a fine sieve. Season lightly with salt and let cool, then refrigerate. MAKE AHEAD The stock can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen in an airtight container for 1 month. Recipe by Jasper White From Simple Seafood : recipes from Jasper White This recipe originally appeared in July, 2000.

Sherry, the kids didn't have much luck when they went hunting last night. But we just got back from doing a little dumpster diving behind the grocery store. It's Thursday and I find it's one of the best days to go snooping. Here's what we found to add to the Poopy Stew: ~2 rutabaga's, just have to cut the soft spots out and remove some leaves ~3 bunches of parsley, probably equals 1 bunch by the time we remove the black stems ~partial bottle of oyster sauce ~several heads of garlic, they are rather dried up but will add some flavor ~ a bag of rice, might have some soy sauce that seeped in but that won't hurt ~2 really nice zucchini, only the ends are damaged ~unsold rotisserie chicken, I'll throw in 2 and keep the other two for another meal. ~3 containers of raw oysters, they smell a little off but you won't notice once they are added. How long you going to let this stew cook? We may head over to the other side of town later and check the dumpsters there. Nancy of the North

I used chicken stock since I had some sitting around, and cod filets. Made the recipe exactly, except that the soup wasn't thickening up enough so I removed the large potato pieces and buzzed the rest with a stick blender. The soup was very tasty! Unfortunately we gave half of it away to my son's drama teacher who has been working all weekend on the sets for the class play, that was SWMBO's idea, grrrr. I managed to get one small bowl for myself. I took it into the corner and ate it with my back to the room, snarling at anyone nearby, lest they take my Preciousssss soup. I was also called on to provide a deboned and roasted chicken, roast potatoes, and salad for the parent volunteers also working on the set this weekend. I also made hamburgers and green beans for my kids, a beef stew for leftovers during the week, and roasted the first chestnuts of the year for dear daughter who loves them.

Ok so here is where we are at... I would do a meat dish (meaning cuts of meat vice ground beef) but this is a fairly large group and don't want to spend that kind of money. If it were a small group.. oh yeah! But this could be about 30+ people. There also may be about 13 dishes so everyone takes a small taste of each. It's fun! SO! Here is the original recipe I found on the food network. I figure I should share the original recipe and then tell you what I did to it.. :) Colcannon 3 pounds potatoes, scrubbed 2 sticks butter 1 1/4 cups hot milk Freshly ground black pepper 1 head cabbage, cored and finely shredded 1 (1-pound) piece ham or bacon, cooked the day before 4 scallions, finely chopped Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish Directions Steam the potatoes in their skins for 30 minutes. Peel them using a knife and fork. Chop with a knife before mashing. Mash thoroughly to remove all the lumps. Add 1 stick of butter in pieces. Gradually add hot milk, stirring all the time. Season with a few grinds of black pepper. Boil the cabbage in unsalted water until it turns a darker color. Add 2 tablespoons butter to tenderize it. Cover with lid for 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly before returning it to the pan. Chop into small pieces. Put the ham in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes until tender. Drain. Remove any fat and chop into small pieces. Add cabbage, scallions, and ham to mashed potatoes, stirring them in gently. Serve in individual soup plates. Make an indentation on the top by swirling a wooden spoon. Put 1 tablespoon of butter into each indentation. Sprinkle with parsley. ******************* So I didn't steam the potatoes, I boiled them. I didn't peel them either. I think skins add texture and flavor as well as vitamins. I added 2 1/2 Tbs prepared horseradish to the mashed potatoes. Then I added.. about a tsp and a half of this Fatalii Fire sauce I like. Even though the Fatalii pepper hails from Africa, the sauce is wicked and its yellow so it blends in color wise with the mashed mix. Basically, any yellowish hot sauce could be used here if deisired. I diced two jalapenos (I know.. Mexico..) and put them in with the cabbage while it was cooking. For the ham, I found a Boar's Head Cappy Ham (really wanted Hot Cap but oh well). Got a half pound at a chef salad thickness, maybe a hair thicker. Cut it pretty small but not super small. So far, I like it. It has flavor and a bite but thinking more bite. What I would change at this point.. more horseradish possibly. The Fatalii sauce has a flavor that I don't want to add more of even though I like the heat. The jals are a much deeper green than the cabbage so maybe a Hot Wax or other pepper with a similar color... that can be found in the grocery store! At any rate.. this is gooooood. :) This is still a work in progress. If anyone has suggestions.. I'm open! I'm very close though.. :^) Erin