Review - CL Oct. 2003 chunky potato and crab chowder

[SueBeeT]

I did a search for this and didn't come up with any other thread...

October 2003
Chunky potato and crab soup

excellent! I made this last night, it was wonderful. Since the crab came in a 1 lb. can, I made a double batch. I substituted 1 cup of chopped leeks for one of the cups (double batch = 2 cups of chopped onion)of chopped onion.

Do you think this soup can be frozen? I dont have the recipe here, but it was made with 2% milk, a little flour, cream of corn, and chicken broth.....as well as all of the other ingredients.

[beckms]

I think the general rule is that soups made with chunk of potatoes don't freeze well because the potatoes lose their texture. I've never done it, though, so I can't be certain.

I'm so glad you reviewed this; it looks so tasty! :)

[HDgirl]

I made this last Thursday for dinner and loved it. DH= loved it so much I made it again yesterday.

[KristinK]

I'm glad to see good reviews - I had my eye on this one!

[jphilg]

I have a question....did all that corn make it too sweet? I like my chowder sort of peppery and creamy, with a touch, but not too much, sweetness. Cream style corn tends to be way too sweet for me.

Will I like it?

[beckms]

Originally posted by jphilg
I have a question....did all that corn make it too sweet? I like my chowder sort of peppery and creamy, with a touch, but not too much, sweetness. Cream style corn tends to be way too sweet for me.

Will I like it?

Well, I can tell you how I made it, which was entirely by accident...I went to the store after school today with the express purpose of picking up the ingredients I needed to make this soup: potatoes, parsley, crab, and creamed corn.

I found the corn, stood in front of it for a minute, thought about how I needed it for the soup, and promptly walked away without taking a can from the shelf. :rolleyes: Apparently the Force is not strong in this one.

So I got home and realized my omission, but had my heart set on making the soup anyway. So I added some diced carrot to make up for the loss of bulk in corn, and I added a can of chopped clams as well. This is turning into an Epicurious review...

To make a long story short, I pureed about 2 cups of the soup before adding the seafood, and it was still fantastic. I'm curious to see if I would like it better with the creamed corn, but it was mighty tasty without it. And probably lower in fat, too.

So I say, skip the corn if you don't like it and puree some of the soup to make it creamy.:)

[eliw23]

This was wonderful and so easy to make. The creamed corn kind of made it sweet ... not too much so but I like creamed corn. Maybe you can just add regular corn kernels?

[Vicanddi]

Can someone post this wonderful sounding soup recipe?
TIA! :)

[JJ40]

I'm not a big crab fan...would this soup lose something if I omitted the crab altogther? Or what about subbing shrimp?

TIA,
Julie

[beckms]

I think if you omitted the crab and used something else that would be fine. It's a pretty basic chowder recipe, and a good starting point for a lot of variations. I pureed some of mine for a thicker consistency, I also added clams along with the crab. You could do a fish chowder with chunks of a firm white fish, or you could use another shellfish like shrimp or scallops...IMO the possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!

[Vicanddi]

I made this tonight, but didn't think it was as wonderful as others had. I had wondered if i should have bought regular corn instead of creamed corn, and now I know the answer is YES! It was just way too sweet for me, and not the flavor I was expecting. I couldn't even taste the onions or garlic or pepper. All I tasted was the sweetness of the creamed corn. I think it would have been better with clams. Overall, this was just fair, and both DH and I were disappointed.

[gperls]

If you omit the clams, you'll have a basic potato soup. Nothing wrong with that. Add some kind of sausage, bacon, or cheese. Good stuff.

[PoppyJ]

This soup was good and came together very easily...which was key because I spent two hours last night with Roto Rooter trying to unclog my kitchen sink.:(

I didn't find it too sweet. I actually thought it was a little spicy. I think I put in too much pepper. My DH thought it was perfect but he eats fresh jalapenos for breakfast. :p

[lsdesign]

Hmmm, after seeing the substitutions that were made this gives me an idea. I was staring at the imitation lobster pkgs. in the store the other day wondering how I could incorporate it in a recipe that my kids would eat. This could be the key! I admit to not having tried it yet. Chowder might be perfect for getting away with not using the real thing. What do y'all think?

[NewMrsG]

I was staring at the imitation lobster pkgs. in the store the other day wondering how I could incorporate it in a recipe that my kids would eat. This could be the key! I admit to not having tried it yet. Chowder might be perfect for getting away with not using the real thing. What do y'all think?

I can't speak for this recipe in particular, but I have to tell you that I tried to do the very same thing for a lobster risotto recipe and it was inedible! May have been the fault of the recipe (hadn't tried it before) but it scared me enough not to want to try it again!

Have others had better lucking cooking this stuff (I think it's called surimi)? The only way I've ever liked it is cold, tossed into a salad of some sort...

[Claudia S]

I finally got around to making this last night and loved it!! I threw in an extra potato and 1 ear of sweet white corn and probably a couple of ounces extra crab (I bought 2 6 oz. cans). I really liked the addition of the extra corn.


Claudia

[sugaree]

Can someone please post this recipe? It sounds right up my alley! TIA.

[Tess]

Bumping this up to see if someone will please post the recipe.

[summer02]

I made this over the weekend - DH loved it, I didn't (I don't like celery). I followed the recipe, but moved the soup into my crockpot (just before the step where you add the crab) and let it sit at low for a few hours before adding the crab.
I prefer the 10/02 Baked Potato Soup.

As e-mailed to me by my sister:

Chunky Potato-Crab Chowder
Cooking Light 10/03

2 T butter
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove, minced
3 1/2 cups (1 inch) cubed red potato (about 1 pound)
3 T all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups 2% reduced fat milk
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp grated whole nutmeg
1 (14 3/4 oz) can cream style corn
1 (14 oz) can fat-free less-sodium chicken broth
8 oz lump crabmeat, shell pieces removed
3 T chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic, saute 4 minutes. Add potato, saute 1 minute. Sprinkle with flour, cook 1 minute stirring constantly. Stir in milk, thyme, pepper, nutmeg, corn, and broth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in crab, parsley and salt, cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Yield: 6 servings ( serving size 1 1/2 cups)

[Claudia S]

Thanks for posting, I didn't have the recipe typed up.

[AlbanyCooks]

I made this soup and loved it as well. I did freeze some and reheated it for dinner last night and I thought it froze nicely. Tasted just as good as the original batch! I had it frozen for about 2 weeks.

[Tess]

Thanks for posting the recipe! YUM

[Anne]

This looks very similar to my usual seafood chowder where I use left over salmon or crab or a mix of the two. I have never tried it with corn or nutmeg though so will have to thrown in some next time. Sometimes I make it with snow peas (add for the last 5 minutes cooking only) instead of the celery.

[tigermorris]

we liked this a lot. I used skim milk and evaporated skim milk.
I would recommend you try it!

Terri

[Kahlico]

Originally posted by beckms



So I got home and realized my omission, but had my heart set on making the soup anyway. So I added some diced carrot to make up for the loss of bulk in corn, and I added a can of chopped clams as well. This is turning into an Epicurious review...



ROFL they should make a book with all the epicurious reviews...

"I substituted spinach for the corn, chicken for the crab, water for the milk, and I left out all the salt and pepper. It just didn't turn out that great! If I could I'd give the recipe no forks but that's not an option!"

:)
~emilie~

[Leonard]

I made this for dinner last night and enjoyed it. I did think it was a little "too sweet" but I would make it again. I was concerned that it wasn't getting thick enough. I turned up the heat during the last 5 minutes and presto! it thickened just like the picture. It was very easy prep and I had all the ingredients except the crab. I bought "claw" meat in the seafood section of the market. It was fine for this soup. DH loved it!

[nixmom]

I made this recipe tonight and loved it, as did DBF. DS, who usually loves anything to do with crab, didn't like it. I think it was a little sweet for him. Next time I make this I think I will add more pepper and maybe only half of the creamed corn. I thought it was a little sweet, but definitely a keeper! I loved how easy it was so put together. :)

Lisa

[Peggy]

DH requested "chowder" so we had this last night for dinner. We thought it was very good...not spectacular, but very good. A comforting soup on a cold night. My only comment on how to improve it would be that it needs some "punch". I'm not sure what ingredient would provide that though.

Peggy

[ellery]

I thought it needed a little punch too, so I added a little extra nutmeg and pepper and it was perfect. It had a mild kick which was perfect as I don't care for spicy and DBF does. I also left out the celery and only had dried herbs at my disposal and used skim milk. I thought it was perfect for a chilly evening.

Leah