Fish Chowder & Grandma La Fata's HotBread

3T butter
½ large onion diced fine
1 stalk celery diced fine
4 anchovies
2 cloves garlic minced
½ T dry thyme or 1 T fresh chopped
2 Bay leaves
1 ½ lbs Yukon Gold potatoes chopped into 1in cubes or smaller
4c seafood/fish stock (ask your seafood dept, they might make it fresh)
1 ½ lbs of raw fish chopped up into bite size chunks
2c cream
salt & white pepper
parsley & chives for garnish

Heat the butter in a large pot. Add the onion, bay leaf & thyme and cook for five minutes. Then add the celery and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute. Then add the potatoes and fish stock, bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. I like creamier soups, so at this point, I would takeout half of the soup & puree it. Then put it back in the pot, add the cream and raw fish chunks, and bring to a low boil for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, the fish should be cooked through, season with salt & pepper and stir in your fresh herbs. We ate half of this soup for a few days and froze the rest for later!

HotBread!
I believe that my first food memory is watching my Grandma La Fata make hot bread. My family and I were at her & Grandpa's house in St. Louis, and I was below counter height. She would slice a loaf of Italian bread (ya know with sesame seeds baked in the top) in half (like a hamburger bun) and drizzle it with olive oil, salt & pepper. Then she would press anchovies into the bread, put the bread back together, wrap it in aluminum foil, and bake it in the oven. Not to make it crunchy, but just to heat it through.
There was always a lot of anticipation while the bread was in the oven. My father, brother and I love love love this bread. Over time, we have fancied it up a bit with foccacia, and herbs.
This time I used a Kalamata olive bread and sprinkled Parmesan on top. Also, I bought anchovies from the deli thinking this would be a nice touch, rather than the ones in a can. But they didn't have the strong flavor like the canned ones, so I wouldn't do that again. mmmmm