This is a thick, rich chowder style soup, and it's a good way to get some fish in your diet even if you're not a big fish eater.

Serves 4-6. (Reheats very well.)

INGREDIENTS:

2 fresh fish filets, boneless and skinless, cut into bite sized pieces
250 g (approx 8 oz.) fresh, uncooked prawns (shrimp)
1 small can of crab meat
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 - 1 cup milk
1 litre (1 quart) prepared vegetable, chicken, or fish stock
100 (approx 3 ox.) butter (or margarine or other equivalent)
1/3 - 1 c all purpose flour

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add in celery and onion, cook over medium heat until onion is just translucent.

Slowly add flour, a little at a time, stirring and cooking as you go. This part is a little tricky, as you want to have enough flour to make a nice, thick, cooked roux to thicken the soup. Ideally, you want to use equal parts butter (or equivalent) and flour. The trick is to get the flour cooked through until it forms a firm ball when combined with the butter and chopped vegetables. The roux should be a nice deep golden color when cooked.

Slowly stir in stock to the roux, adding a little at a time so it's mixed throughout. Add the crab meat and stir through.

At this point, you need to decide how much milk to add. I mostly do it by "eyeballing" it. I like my soup quite thick, so I don't usually put much milk in.

Allow the soup to cook over a low heat for ten minutes or so, stirring constantly, just until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the fish, allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the raw prawns (shrimp) and allow to cook an additional 3 -5 minutes.

Remove promptly from heat. Season with fresh pepper to taste. Serve with a nice crusty bread, fresh rolls, or croutons.

VARIATIONS:

Optional: Stir in a handful of grated cheese (approximately half a cup) immediately before serving, after soup has been removed from heat.

You can use imitation crab instead of real crab meat, but it gives a different consistancy and flavor (it's still good, it's just different). You might also try scallops instead of prawns, or try substituting a can of clams in place of the crab meat.

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