Pan-seared Scup over a Chowder Purée, Roasted Corn, Caramelized Shallots & Bacon

Every summer, I invite a few close friends over for what I call my Sea & Farm to Table Supper. It's a simple summer evening in the backyard centered around local harvests from the sea and nearby gardens. It’s one of my favorite traditions: good food, good people, and ingredients with a story behind them.

As I started planning this year’s dinner, I knew I wanted to feature a fish you don’t often see at the neighborhood fish market, something deeply connected to my family’s weir fishing business and to Harvesters’ core values of sourcing seafood that is both local and abundant.

This year, I landed on scup.

Typically, Harvesters offers scup whole, but over the last few weeks, our fishing families have been landing beautiful “jumbo” scup that fillet exceptionally well. I also wanted to showcase another dish that’s become something of a signature among my friends and family: my quahog chowder.

The challenge became figuring out how to bring the two together. Chowder is usually the soup course, while fish is the main event, but I wanted one dish that could do both.

Then it hit me.

Pan-seared scup over a silky chowder purée, finished with caramelized shallots, bacon bits, and roasted corn. Comforting, and just a little unexpected. Now, I’m not giving away my super secret chowder recipe here, but this version comes pretty close. And, since this was my first attempt at the dish, I invited Harvesters board member Shannon and her partner Russell — an incredibly creative cook you may recognize from our YouTube series In the Kitchen with Russell — over to give it a try.

Aside from a few minor salt adjustments, the meal was a hit. So I’m sharing the dish with you here… with one small request:

Please don’t tell my dinner guests.

Pan-seared scup over silky chowder pureed with microgreens, caramelized shallots, bacon, and roasted corn. In this dish, I added microgreens for color and garnish that I picked up at the Chatham Farmers Market that day.

RECIPE

Ingredients

For the Bacon & Shallots

• 4 slices smoked bacon

• 1½ shallots, thinly sliced

• 2 tbsp butter

• 1 tbsp olive oil

For the Chowder Purée

• 1 dozen littleneck clams

• 2 potatoes, diced

• 2 slices bacon, chopped

• 1 caramelized shallot

• Reserved clam juice

• Water or white wine, as needed

• Sherry or sherry vinegar

• ¼ cup cream (optional)

For the Scup

• 1½ pounds Chatham Harvesters scup fillets

• Salt

• Black pepper

• Olive oil or reserved bacon fat

• ½ lemon, sliced

Directions

1. Roast the Corn

Toss the corn kernels with olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Roast at 425°F until lightly charred, about 12–15 minutes.Reserve and keep warm.

2. Cook the Bacon

Dice the bacon and cook slowly in a pan until crisp. Remove the bacon and reserve. Set aside one-third for garnish. Leave a small amount of bacon fat in the pan.

3. Caramelize the Shallots

Add the sliced shallots to the bacon fat with a little butter. Cook slowly over medium-low heat until deeply golden and soft. Finish with a splash of sherry vinegar. Reserve warm and set aside one-third for garnish.

4. Make the Chowder Purée

In a saucepan, bring a small amount of water or white wine to a boil. Add the clams and steam until they just open. Remove the clams from the pan and reserve the cooking liquid to a bowl.

In the same saucepan, cook the chopped bacon in a little butter. Add the caramelized shallots and diced potatoes.

Pour in the reserved clam liquid, adding enough water or wine to cover the potatoes if needed. Simmer until the potatoes are completely tender.

Roughly chop the clams and add them to the pan. Simmer for 1–2 minutes.

Remove about half of the liquid. Add the cream (if using), along with the clams, shallots, bacon, and potatoes, to a blender. Blend until smooth and silky.

Season with salt and black pepper. Keep warm.

5. Pan-Sear the Scup

Pat the scup dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil or bacon fat in a hot pan. Place the fish skin-side down and cook until the skin is crisp about 2-3 minutes 

Add butter and baste the fish. Flip briefly to finish cooking for another 2 minutes

Add the lemon slices to the pan just before serving.

To Plate

Spoon the chowder purée into the center of each plate. Scatter the roasted corn over the purée. Place the pan-seared scup on top, skin-side up. Garnish with the reserved bacon and caramelized shallots.

Serve immediately.

Shareen Davis is the creator of the cooperative’s recipe blog. A passionate seafood enthusiast with deep generational roots in Chatham’s fishing community, she combines her love of local seafood with storytelling, bringing fresh recipes and the stories behind the catch to life.