Cooking From the Pantry - Crab Chowder

Starting a meal with a comforting bowl of chowder or soup is always great whether at a fancy restaurant, deli, or cafe.  Or have a classic bowl of soup or chowder with French bread or crackers as a complete meal.  While you are enjoying the first course or your complete meal, the soup or chowder is so good that you savor every spoonful to seek out all the flavors you can identify, so you create this meal at home yourself.  This restaurant-inspired chowder is from Crispers, a little bistro deli not far from where I work.  The chowder is called “Kickin Crab Chowder,” and it is full of beautiful flavors but lacks one thing: crab meat.  So, I am creating my version of this chowder, which is full of flavor and has lots of lump crabmeat.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• ½ cup of flour
• 3 cups Fat-Free Chicken Broth
• 5 cloves garlic (diced)
• ½ medium onion (diced)
• 1 cup Fat-Free half & half creamer (room temp)
• 1 tsp. Creole Seasonings
• 1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
• 2 cups Corn
• 16 ounces Lump Crabmeat
• ½ cup Red Bell Peppers (dice)

Step # 1 – Making the Roux   Cook time about 3 – 5 minutes

  In a medium saucepan, add olive oil and butter.  Sprinkle in the flour once the butter has melted and combined with the olive oil.  Cook over gentle/low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 2 minutes.  (Your roux should be light yellow, so do not let it get dark.)  Remove from heat and gradually stir at room temperature half & half, adding a little at a time and stirring constantly until the cream is incorporated before adding more.  When all the milk has been added, return to the heat and cook, stirring until thick and smooth.  Then add creole seasonings, cayenne pepper, and old bay seasoning. (See special note about making Roux’s) (Set aside for next step).

 Step # 2 – let’s get down to the chowder

 In a 3 - 5-quart soup pot, add chicken broth, garlic, and onions, and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Then add your roux and blend all ingredients well. Now add corn and bell peppers. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let simmer for another 3 – 5 minutes.  

 Step # 3 - Add the crabmeat to that chowder

Add crabmeat and be careful not to break up the lumps.  Let simmer for 3 -5 minutes, then serve in soup bowls and garnish with fresh chives.  This chowder is excellent with French bread, crackers, or parmesan cheese toast.  This chowder has crowd-pleasing possibilities. Enjoy 

Special Note about Roux

Roux is a cooked mixture of flour and fat, traditionally clarified butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the mother sauces of classical French cooking: sauce béchamel, sauce velouté, and sauce espagnole. Butter, vegetable oils, or lard are commonly used fats. Roux is used as a thickener for gravy, other sauces, soups, and stews. It is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight