Half chowder, half fish pie, this one-pot dinner is everything I want contemporary Michigan cuisine to be—rooted in our region’s agricultural and culinary traditions but not stodgy or heavy the way Midwestern food is presented and perceived to be. The Manitou Islands are in Lake Michigan and part of the lore around Sleeping Bear Dunes in Glen Arbor, Michigan. This part of the state has the deepest tradition of smoked fish and mysticism around the lakes, so it only made sense to me to name it after them (plus it rhymes)!
Smoked fish is emblematic of the northern Midwest both because many of the people who immigrated and stayed here were from fish-loving regions (Scandinavia, The Netherlands, and parts of the Mediterranean Basin), but also because our state’s defining (and unifying) feature, the Great Lakes, are loaded with all sorts of fish that were traditionally preserved through hot smoking.
Note: The smoked fish takes the place of bacon, the cream is gone, and the amount of vegetables is doubled, differing from a more traditional chowder because that’s the way I like to eat. It is also a looser stew because the dumpling topping absorbs some of the broth. If you find that you miss the cream, go ahead and add a swirl before topping with the dumplings. Please also feel encouraged to mix and match the type of vegetables included to suit what is already in your kitchen or your preferences; there’s no need to go out hunting for rutabaga unnecessarily.
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What you’ll need
Dutch Oven
$100 $80 At Amazon
Wooden Spoon
$13 At Amazon
Pyrex 4-Cup Measuring Cup
$8 At Bed Bath and Beyond
French Wire Whisk
$18 $16 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour
Yield
6–8 servings
Ingredients
Stew
Dumplings and Assembly
Preparation
Stew
Step 1
Heat ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over low until shimmering. Add 1 Tbsp. herbes de Provence and 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add 6 oil-packed anchovy fillets and cook, stirring, until dissolved, about 1 minute. Add 2 medium onions, finely chopped, 2 medium leeks, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced into half-moons, 6 celery stalks, sliced crosswise ½" thick, and 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not completely tender, 6–8 minutes; season with kosher salt and finely ground black pepper.
Step 2
Add 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour and cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are coated, about 1 minute. Pour in 2 cups dry white wine, scraping up browned bits stuck to bottom of pot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until a thick sauce forms and no lumps remain, about 3 minutes. Add 1 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, cut into 1½" cubes, 1 lb. rutabaga or kohlrabi, peeled, cut into 1½" cubes, 1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes (4–5 medium), scrubbed, cut into 1½" cubes, and one 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes and stir to combine; season with salt and black pepper. Pour in 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in 1 lb. smoked trout or whitefish, skin and bones removed, flesh broken into pieces.
Dumplings and Assembly
Step 3
While the stew is simmering, whisk 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1 oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about ½ cup), 1 Tbsp. sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper, ½ tsp. caraway seeds, and 2 Tbsp. chopped dill in a medium bowl to combine. Pour in 1¼ cups buttermilk and mix just until dough comes together (be careful not to overmix).
Step 4
Just after adding fish to stew, drop dough into stew by the tablespoonful (don’t worry if dumplings aren’t perfect; they will puff up as they cook). Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and cook until dumplings are opaque and 3 times larger in size (they should cover most of the surface of the stew; uncover to check), 18–22 minutes. To be extra sure, you can remove a dumpling and cut it in half; the interior should look like a soft dinner roll and be completely cooked through. If they’re not, re-cover pot and cook, checking every 2 minutes, until done.
Step 5
To serve, ladle stew and dumplings into bowls and top with more dill.
Recipe notes
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