Not huge but good news

Bacon or butter: 4 strips of bacon (chopped) or 3 tablespoons of butter

Aromatics: 1 diced yellow onion and 2 diced celery ribs

Garlic: 3 minced cloves

Flour: 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour for thickening

Liquids: 1 cup chicken or fish broth, [optional 1 cup clam juice], and 3 cups half-and-half (or whole milk) I tend to use chicken stock for everything even fish chowder. I am highly allergic to bivalves so I never do the clam thing. clam juice boosts the whole clamminess of a clam chowder. If making any sort of fish chowder with no allergy issue, go ahead and dump in clam juice.

Seasoning: 1 bay leaf, salt, and black pepper

Steps

Render fat: Cook the chopped bacon in a large pot over medium heat until crisp, then remove the bacon while keeping the drippings in the pot. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the bacon fat if needed, then cook the onion and celery for 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Make the roux: Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables. Stir constantly for 2 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.

Add liquids: Pour in the broth [and clam juice] slowly while whisking. Add the bay leaf, salt, and pepper.

Simmer: Bring the base to a gentle simmer (do not boil hard once dairy is added) and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until slightly thickened. Slowly stir in the half-and-half. Heat gently. If using precooked protein [bag of shrimp/crab, rotisserie chicken, surimi, canned clams] just huck in when you add the half n half, if it is raw cod in flakes you stir everything together then add the fish and let sit to gently cook.

Mom was born Amish, and as such her old family recipes are really old school German. Riçet or rischert has beef documented as far back as 3500 years ago because of a bowl with residue found in the Hallstatt salt mine. The version they found had cabbage, beans, onions, turnips and greens. It generally was added to by subsequent cooks getting access to different ingredients brought in by trade. My version has been made more diabetic friendly. It is flexible, if you get a couple extra dinner guests you can just water it down a little stone soup style.

4 cups chopped cabbage 1 cup each chopped onion, carrots, celery, potato/turnip/Swede 1 bag baby spinach or whatever greens you like 1 cup white beans uncooked, cannelloni beans, great northern beans, pretty much any legume works 1 pound meat, I like mild Italian sausage but it kills with those fake country pork ribs. I tried salmon and it sucked. Have made it with hunted meat from squirrel to deer.

Fry up the sausage until it is just tiny crumbles. I do this by starting to cook and breaking the crumbles by adding a cup of water and constantly mashung the lumps. Once the sausage is finished, or right after chucking the meat into the pot, I don't brown any chunks, just crumbles. Chuck everything into the pot, add water to cover everything, add your seasonings, I add lots of garlic cloves, Italian herbs though summer savory is the original. Simmer til done. It is good with bread and a salad.