Christmas Eve Seafood Chowder

If I don’t make this for Christmas Eve, I hear about it from Tim. 
Usually adding more seafood than it calls for, it's a budget-buster . . . but well worth it.


2  large onions
2 - 3  potatoes, diced (red or Yukon gold)
1  stick  butter
2  lbs  fish fillets (cod is good)
2  lbs  cooked shrimp
3  pints  oysters, with juice
2  bottles (8 oz.)  clam juice
4  sm.  cans  minced clams, with juice
1  pkg.  imitation crab meat 
1  qt  half and half cream
2  qts  whole milk
Salt and pepper, to taste

Sauté onions in half the butter. Add the remaining butter and sauté the fish chunks. Boil the potatoes until just done. Drain. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a gentle simmer, slowly, stirring often. (This takes about an hour to do this.) 

Makes 2 gallons, and will keep about 4 days.

NOTE: I take liberties with the seafood. We like lots of it, so I usually increase the amounts of all seafood except imitation crab. Of course, you can use real crab.

Adding more seafood and even another potato makes it more chowdery than soupy. We always end up with a lot of broth left over anyway, even with the added chunky ingredients. Sometimes I add chunked sautéed mushrooms at the end.