Crab Chowder

New York City had its second significant snowfall of the winter this week. After spending an hour shoveling snow off  my sidewalk my thoughts turned towards a nice hot supper. What could I cook in a hurry that would be both warm and filling? 

I remembered a recipe I recently saw on Arlene's blog Food Of Love for Chicken Corn Chowder, where she mentioned it would probably also taste good made with crab. That's it! I had a container of fresh crab meat in my refrigerator that I thought I was going to use to make crab cakes, but I knew a nice bowl of chowder would really hit the spot on a cold winter's day. I made it using my favorite way of making a creamed soup, which differed slightly from Arlene's version. Served along with a freshly baked biscuits and a salad our dinner was made in less than an hour.

Crab Chowder

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium yellow onion chopped

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 ribs of celery chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and diced

3 large potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes

two tablespoons all purpose  flour

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 quart skim milk

3 cups corn kernels, scraped fresh from the cob or frozen kernels

8 ounces fresh cooked lump crab meat

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

1/2 tsp cayenne ground pepper (can be omitted if you don't like your chowder spicy)

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Heat extra virgin olive oil and butter in a large soup pot over moderate heat. Add chopped onion, garlic, celery and red pepper and saute until they wilt down and become soft. Add Old Bay Seasoning and cayenne pepper and sprinkle flour over wilted vegetables, stirring constantly for two minutes until a paste forms. Slowly stir in broth and add potatoes and stir, cover pot and allow to slowly boil until potatoes begin to get soft when pierced with a fork. Uncover and add milk, corn and crab meat. Stir well and bring up to a simmer, not a boil, and simmer soup five - ten minutes making sure potatoes are cooked. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Top each portion with chopped fresh parsley and serve.

I'm adding this post to Michael's blog Designs by Gollum "Foodie Friday," Sandi of The Whistlestop Cafe Cooking "Friday Favorites Linky Party.