Chunky Potato-Crab Chowder

I wanted to get this post finished last night, but unfortunately the real job took precedence and grading had to be done. This recipe is worth the wait, and if you are a crab lover you should DEFINITELY make it. A few weeks ago while grocery shopping I made a luxury purchase of "Special Crab Meat". I wanted to wait until there was a "special" reason to use the crab meat, and Thursday was the day. Actually Wednesday should have been the day but I was shy a few key ingredients. Wednesday I picked up my FIRST box of spring veggies from our Spiral Path Farms CSA membership (more information here: http://www.spiralpathfarm.com/). This is our first year as CSA members and I had been anticipating the first pick-up since March, when we joined. In the box was a variety of early springs goodies; including a pile of freshly harvested new potatoes. As soon as I saw these red-skinned beauties I knew exactly what the crab had been waiting for: Chunky Potato-Crab Chowder:Adapted from My Recipes, Cooking Light, October 2003.

When I picked the screaming Child (I told you she would not want to come home to "mommy's house"-mommy's house sucks-she get's things like Kashi waffles and oatmeal for breakfast instead of marshmallows.) at our designated meeting point I also ran into the store and grabbed some 2% milk and a can of creamed corn. I detest creamed corn; it reminds me of old people teeth and factory made baby food. That is what the recipe listed though so I pushed the image of a elderly person sucking it through their teeth and made the purchase.

Once home I looked up the recipe on Cooking Light, prepped my ingredients and got to work.

I salvaged some really old celery from the fridge and some aging parsley, rinsed my new potatoes, smashed some garlic and then chopped everything up. First I sauteed my onions, garlic and celery in a little butter.

Then the potatoes went in; I sauteed a bit longer, and then sprinkled some flour and stirred that in (I followed the Cooking Light Recipe as a "guide"; I have a tendency to eyeball ingredients).

Once the flour was stirred in; the milk was added. It then simmered for 20 minutes with the lid OFF. The recipe said to leave the lid on, but even with the heat set at the lowest point it was still boiling when the lid was on.

Once the milk was added I diverted from the original recipe. A few changes were made. I left out the nutmeg and thyme; the Hubby is not a nutmeg fan and I did not have any fresh thyme. Instead I added a heaping spoon of Old Bay. My mom's family hails from Maryland and we are serious crab eaters. You do not have Blue Crab without Old Bay; it is like eating Oreos without milk.

The Child was REALLY excited about the Old Bay; she thought that when I opened it crabs were going to scuttle out. Two-year olds are so literal.

Once the chowder thickened I added the Special crab. If you can splurge Lump Crabmeat would be GREAT in this recipe. Special is what is leftover and kind of shredded up. It is still yummy though.

The final product was DELICIOUS!!! Make this chowder-it tastes SOOO decadent, but is actually good for you. The Spiral Path new potatoes were creamy and fresh, the crab was indeed "special" and you could not even tell that the celery had been slightly dehydrated. The creamed corn added a subtly sweet flavor, and blended with the other ingredients. I could only eat a little bit because our Tri-team swim was at 8:30 PM. After tasting I did add another healthy pour shake. Then the Hubby tasted it. Guess what he said? "More Old Bay." A man after my own heart :).

If your wondering what the Child was doing while I was creating this yummy concoction here is a picture of her project:




What does one do with a noodle necklace once you have it on? Eat it of course. Better than candy :).