Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was wonderful, I got so much rest over the weekend after cooking all day on Thursday. :)
I made this Spicy Crab and Corn Chowder a few weeks ago and couldn't wait to get around to sharing it on the blog. It came out so good; the flavors were incredible. ...aaand it was really easy. The process from start to finish only took about 40 minutes... on a weeknight!
Ingredients:
1 can of crab meat*
2 10 oz. boxes of frozen corn*
3 cans of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
2 medium carrots, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1 medium-large onion, finely diced
1/2 medium red bell pepper, finely diced
6 strips of bacon {or turkey bacon}, finely diced
2 heaping tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 {heaping for me!} tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper {or more if you like it really spicy}
1/2 stick of butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
*I used claw meat because I think it has more flavor than jumbo lump. Feel free to use whatever you think is best!
*I only had one box of frozen corn in the freezer so in addition, I used a 15 ounce can, drained and rinsed.
{The stars of the show! I love this picture, so bright and beautiful. Whenever I cook with celery, carrots and onion, I feel official. Lol!}
{Start by dicing your veggies and bacon. First, the carrots, celery, onion and red pepper. When a dish starts with a combination of these vegetables, you know it's gonna be good. Flavor, waiting to happen!}
{Dice your bacon next. I used turkey bacon and for us, it has to be the GoodShall's brand. The BEST!}
{In a large heavy bottomed pot {large enough to make a big pot of soup} over medium heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil and your chopped bacon. If you are using pork bacon, you don't need to add the oil. Turkey bacon has less fat so the oil is needed to get the pieces nice and crispy. :)}
{Saute the bacon, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes or until crispy. Once it's done, remove and drain on paper towel.}
{To that same pot, add your butter.}
{Once the butter has melted, add your diced veggies and season with salt and pepper.}
{Let the veggies cook over medium heat and get tender and golden, about 10 minutes.}
{Add your heaping tablespoons of flour to the veggies and butter.}
{Stir well to coat the veggies in flour and let it cook for about 5 minutes.}
{Gather your spices.}
{Slowly add the cans of chicken broth to the vegetables / flour, stirring out any small lumps.}
{Add your spices and stir!}
{Bring to a boil and let this bubble for a minute or two.}
{Stir in your corn...}
{Open your crab meat, YUM!!!}
{...add add it to the pot!}
{Stir this well to break up the crab meat. Add your crispy, cooked bacon to the pot. Stir to mix.}
{Bring this up to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium-low. Taste for salt and pepper and season accordingly. Make sure it has good flavor!}
{Once it starts to simmer over the reduced heat, add in your heavy cream. Not milk, not half and half... Heavy {whipping} cream. :) Yum!}
{Now that your creamy soup is simmering and getting delicious, it needs to be thickened a bit more. To a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of cold water to form a thick paste. Add a pinch of salt to season the paste. Mix it really well and add the cornstarch/water mixture to your simmering soup.}
{Mix in the thickening paste and let this simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes.}
{Serve up your hot, creamy, flavorful chowder in a pretty bowl, topped with parsley flakes alongside a crusty piece of bread. SO GOOD!}
{Look at the chunks of crab, pieces of bacon and bright sweet corn kernels. AMAZING.}
This was a keeper in our house, I am making another pot this week! Cory and the kids raved with every spoonful. Lol! I was beaming from ear to ear. :) Let me know if you plan to try it!
xoxo, thanks for reading ♥
