Seafood Chowder - Cockles and Mussels

Does anybody make seafood chowder and if so do you use your own cockles & mussels in it? Is there a way of preparing them?
I was wondering if the cockles I dig from Sandymount Strand could be used in a chowder? I can also get small mussels here?

Am I likely to end up in hospital??!!!

i wouldnt take the chance
Mussels cost feck all in the supermarkets as do cockles and clams. i have got cockles and clams in superquinn.

Cleaning small mussels can be a real pain.
If they are clean enough then you just need to wash the cockles and mussels in a 4 or 5 changes of cold water. They should all be tightly shut.
If you are feeling fancy you can put them in a pot with garlic, white wine, onion/shallots, a few herbs. Put lid on pot and cook over low heat for a few minutes. As soon as the shells open up you can pick out the meat. After that you can use them for whatever purpose you wish. The cooking liquid (strained) that's left over is good for soups etc...

From Biddy White Lennon in yesterday’s Farmer’s Journal:

Tim O’ Sullivan’s Seafood Chowder (head chef in Renvyle House)

50g butter
2 medium onions, chopped
50g carrot, chopped
50g leeks, chopped
50g cerely, chopped
250g potatoes, peeled and diced
300g raw fish cubed - mixture of cod, monkfish, salmon, smoked haddock, mussels, shrimps, your cockles
2 bay leaves
125ml cream
600ml fish stock
50g fresh parsley, chopped.

Melt the butter and add the carrots, leeks, celery and onion. Cook these for 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes and bay leaves and cook for 3 minutes. Add fish stock. Bring to boiling point. Add the fish and reduce heat to simmering and cook for 5-8 minutes.
Add the cream and parsley, season with salt and pepper and bring back to boiling point.
Serve at once.

They say not to use more than 100g smoked haddock or too much salmon as they overpower the other fish.

If you want to eat shellfish you've gathered yourself and minimise your risk your risk of DSP and PSP (two nasty doses you can get from shellfish: tip, if you're going to get DSP, get PSP as well - that way you'll have an excuse for not making it to the bathroom in time :lol: ), try asking the marine institute where they think it's safe to gather from - this varies from time to time. Some places even have plaques up advising you to seek advice before tucking in. Oh, and buying toilet roll in bulk is more economical....

I never got an answer from the phone number given on those boards but this is the site they refer to :
http://www.marine.ie/industry+services/ ... hType=Maps
You may note that the Sligo area info never seems to be updated ( last few times I looked , anyway ) .
I've spoken to commercial winkle collectors who were happily picking those when the Red Tide was really bad last summer . Maybe those molluscs aren't affected as badly as the filter feeders .
I do eat mussells from clean , open-sea coastline but not when the available data shows high levels of the toxic plankton . No problems so far . But I would leave small shells on the grounds of conservation and , to be honest , they're far too much hassle for what you get out of them . A couple of euro should buy you more than enough for 2 servings .

Make sure you leave cockles in clean seawater for maybe 24 hrs to flush the grit out .
Nick

Whoooaa Man everywhere I go tere is someone trying to get me to eat celery :wink:

Cleaning small mussels can be a real pain.
If they are clean enough then you just need to wash the cockles and mussels in a 4 or 5 changes of cold water. They should all be tightly shut.
If you are feeling fancy you can put them in a pot with garlic, white wine, onion/shallots, a few herbs. Put lid on pot and cook over low heat for a few minutes. As soon as the shells open up you can pick out the meat. After that you can use them for whatever purpose you wish. The cooking liquid (strained) that's left over is good for soups etc...

From Biddy White Lennon in yesterday’s Farmer’s Journal:

Tim O’ Sullivan’s Seafood Chowder (head chef in Renvyle House)

50g butter
2 medium onions, chopped
50g carrot, chopped
50g leeks, chopped
50g cerely, chopped
250g potatoes, peeled and diced
300g raw fish cubed - mixture of cod, monkfish, salmon, smoked haddock, mussels, shrimps, your cockles
2 bay leaves
125ml cream
600ml fish stock
50g fresh parsley, chopped.

Melt the butter and add the carrots, leeks, celery and onion. Cook these for 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes and bay leaves and cook for 3 minutes. Add fish stock. Bring to boiling point. Add the fish and reduce heat to simmering and cook for 5-8 minutes.
Add the cream and parsley, season with salt and pepper and bring back to boiling point.
Serve at once.

They say not to use more than 100g smoked haddock or too much salmon as they overpower the other fish.

I gather the mussels and put them in a large net bag take them to a nice quiet rock mark open to the wide Atlantic and no where near sewage pipes. leave for 2 or 3 days to wash out.
Fresh clean mussels.
At least I can trace where they came from.

Are you sure you know where the supermarkets came from how old they are or how clean?

Are you sure you know where the supermarkets came from how old they are ....?

Good point . I'd assume that they were from a properly managed farm so I wouldn't be concerned about bugs or pollution but I would be sure to check their condition . A s/mkt close to me was selling a batch in which a lot had been dead for a while ( shells wide open and stiff in that position ) . The counter staff had no idea that this is a potential danger sign .