There you are, at home in the dark because
the sun is going down earlier and you want something to eat but you don't want to brave the
chilly winds in search of it. What do you do? There's nothing quite like a
cup of soup on a cold evening. Nothing better than a
chowder. If you want something to fill your stomach and
liven your taste buds then you've come to the right recipe, because that's what this will do.
What you're going to need
6 tbsp butter/margarine
3 tsp
Old Bay seasonings
1/2 c. all purpose flour
3 c. milk (2% or whole)
2 c. crab meat (imitation or cooked)
2 c. shredded
pepper jack
2 14 oz. cans of
chicken broth
3 15 oz. cans of creamed corn
2-3 large
idaho potatoes
Now that you've got it all what do you do?
Peel and cut your potatoes into smallish chunks. Keep these set aside in a
bowl covered in water to keep them from turning
brown.
In a 4
quart saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat. Be careful not to
burn the pan. If it smells like you're making
popcorn you've got it set too high. Once the
butter is melted begin slowly adding the flour and mixing it evenly. This will make little doughy dumplings. Once you've got
dumplings add all of the milk and chicken broth quickly to prevent them from burning. Stir gently then add the drained potatoes and the
creamed corn. Cook over a medium heat being sure to stir occasionally.
While that's cooking make sure your cheese is shredded if you purchased a block. This would also be a good time to break apart the chunks of crab meat into smaller bits. You don't really want to bite into the crab meat so much as have some in every spoon full. Have the cheese and the
crab meat set to the side.
The mixture in the
saucepan will come to a boil and thicken slightly. If it gets too frothy turn the heat down a little. Cook until you can easily
smoosh a potato with a fork.* Be careful about the corn burning in the edges of the pan. Once the potatoes are smooshable add the
crab meat followed by the cheese. Cook until the
cheese is melted then season with the
Old Bay and serve.
This chowder is very
yummy and is excellent with
Oyster Crackers.
* The cooking time will depend on the size of your potato chunks. The smaller the chunk the shorter the time it will take to cook it through. A general cooking time is about 25 minutes.
Lometa: ohh! A nice garnish for the bowl would be a
teaspoon of each shredded cheese,
bacon bits and chopped
green onion.