Crab and Corn Chowder

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With the weather being so sketchy, I was having a craving for something warm. Mr. Kim Chee and I were at a coffeehouse this weekend, and their soup of the day was corn chowder. Perfect inspiration!

This recipe uses canned corn and crab. If you're fortunate enough to be somewhere that fresh corn is in season (or have access to high-quality fresh crab!), by all means use that instead! Or, if you prefer frozen corn to canned, go ahead and use that too. I personally prefer canned corn--frozen corn gets a little too chewy for my taste.

The chowder starts with a little bacon. I used bacon ends, but if you're using strips of bacon, three pieces should suit you just fine.

While the bacon fat is rendering out, finely chop (or mince) your veggies. I used celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and bell pepper.

By this time, your bacon should be where you want it--not crispy, just cooked through.

Toss the veggies into the pot along with the bacon. Stir them around and let them cook until they are softened.

While your veggies are softening, you can work on your potatoes. Let's do the regular potatoes first.

To get them the right size for soup, I like to cut them lengthwise, into 3-5 thick slices, depending on the size of the potato.

Then, working with a few slices at a time (making sure to have a flat piece on the bottom, for stability), I cut the slices into planks--usually three planks per slice.

Then I cut the planks into cubes.

Repeat with a sweet potato--but be sure to peel it first!

I showed you a whole sweet potato at the beginning of the recipe, but I ended up using only about half of it. It was a pretty big potato.

Now that your veggies are softened, it's time to make a roux. The bacon didn't give up as much fat as I thought it might, so I threw in 2 tablespoons of butter, along with the flour. You want an equal amount of flour to fat, and without the butter, the roux would be too dry and your soup will taste grainy.

Here's what it should look like--a paste that's neither too wet nor too dry.

After about a minute (which is about how long it should take to open three cans of broth), you can pour in your broth. I used both chicken and vegetable.

Then add your potatoes. I did add the white potatoes--it's just that they don't float.

Let the soup boil away until the potatoes are soft enough to eat. And don't be afraid to let this actually boil--the white potatoes will break up a little and make your soup thicker.

When the potatoes tell you that they're ready, you can move on to the next thing. Drain all the liquid from your corn.

Pour the corn into the soup.

For richness, add some half and half.

Yum. Almost there!

A couple small cans of crab add the "crab" to Crab and Corn Chowder. (And I didn't get any pictures of this, I guess.) I wished so badly that I had fresh lump crab meat on hand. But my town grocery store only had leg meat. And beggers can't really be choosers. But I would highly recommend picking up the best crab meat you can for this. The leg meat was in very fine pieces, and didn't have a ton of meatiness to stand up to the potatoes. You could still taste it, though.

Some Old Bay seasoning will bring out the crab's flavor even more. And don't forget to add salt and pepper!














In the time it took to boil potatoes, you've got yourself a steamin' hot bowl of Crab and Corn Chowder. How does it feel? :D

Recipe: Crab and Corn Chowder

3 slices bacon, roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, minced
1 carrot, minced
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bell pepper, minced

1/4 c. flour
2 tbsp. butter

2 cans chicken broth
1 can vegetable broth

2 medium-sized potatoes (or 3 smalls), diced
1 small (or 1/2 large) sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 cans sweet corn

1/2 c. half and half
2 4 oz. cans crab meat
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste


In a large pot, render fat from bacon. Add vegetables and cook until softened.

Add flour (and butter, if necessary.) Cook for about a minute, to get the floury taste out of the roux.

Pour in broths. Add potatoes, and boil until potatoes are softened.

Add corn, half and half, crab meat, Old Bay, and salt and pepper. Cook until everything has heated through. Serve!

Weeknight Shrimp Curry

As much as I love my recipe for Lamb Curry, it does require some planning ahead, as well as a couple hours to stew the meat. I usually make in on Sundays for dinner. But some days, I want curry and don't want to wait. This is a quick and easy curry that you can make any day of the week.

Here are the ingredients you'll need.

Start a little butter (clarified if you've got it!) melting in a pan.

I never use clarified butter (also called ghee). I'm too cheap to pay for it and never have enough time to clarify it myself. But it would be a little more authentic if you do have it.

While the butter is melting, dice some onion and garlic.

Toss 'em in with the butter and start softening them up.

The curry flavor I used was a Rogan Josh blend from Penzey's. It's one of my favorite curries and is traditionally made with lamb.

Penzey's has a wide selection of curry powder blends, from basic curry to spicy to sweet. You could even get away with using regular curry powder (which is a blend as well, not a spice) from the grocery store. Feel free to use whatever curry blend you like.

Add a couple tablespoons of the curry. Stir it into the pan; the heat from the pan will toast the spices a little.

After about a minute, pour in the coconut milk. You could also use yogurt.

A can of diced tomatoes is next. I used fire-roasted tomatoes for more flavor, but whatever you've got is fine.

Let the sauce simmer as long as you'd like. You could add the shrimp now, or you could let the sauce simmer a bit to let the flavors mature.

Whenever you're ready, add the shrimp. I removed the shells but left the tails on.

Squeeze the juice from half a lime.

Once the shrimp is just pink, which will only take a couple minutes, your curry is ready!

Serve it over basmati rice and sprinkle on some fresh herbs. I had chives so I used them, but cilantro, parsley, or basil (especially Thai basil) would lend some color and flavor too.







In as little as ten minutes, you can have yourself a bowl of homemade curry! If you're not into shrimp, give chicken or even fish a try. Add this curry to your weekday list of meals!

Recipe: Weeknight Shrimp Curry

2 tbsp. butter
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tbsp. of your favorite curry blend
1 can coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes
1 lb. shrimp

juice from half a lime


In a large pan, saute onion and garlic in butter until softened.

Add curry powder and let toast for about a minute. Add coconut milk and diced tomatoes. Let sauce simmer as long as you'd like. When you're about ready to serve, add in shrimp and cook until shrimp turns pink, 2-3 minutes. Add lime juice.

Serve over basmati rice.

Simple Pan-Fried Fish

This is my favorite way to prepare fish. It's quick, it's easy, it's simple, and it's really, really good. It works well with just about any fish (although I'd recommend using some kind of white fish, like walleye, cod, tilapia, etc.) It's so good you'll think it came from a restaurant--except that you made it!

Look how few ingredients it needs. (It also needs a little flour for dredging. And my lemon seems to have been absent while I was taking roll call.)

Well, we found the flour. Just a little flour seasoned with salt and pepper. A little Old Bay might be nice, too, if you had any in your spice drawer.

Lightly coat your fish in the flour mixture. Today I used a nice piece of cod. I cut it in half, to make it a more manageable size.

I melted a blend of butter and olive oil in a large pan.

Once they melted together and my  pan was hot, I carefully laid down my fish.

After 4-5 minutes, the fish became a nice golden brown. I carefully flipped it over. It was so large that I had to use two spatulas.

A note--since I had two pieces of fish,  I sauteed them separately so I wouldn't crowd the pan. If you do this, you may find that you need to add a little more butter and olive oil. If the pan starts to look dry, just add another drizzle of oil and you should be fine.

Once the fish has been on both sides and is fully cooked through, remove it from the pan and set it aside.  Mince up a shallot.

You could use regular onion, but shallots have such a nice, sweet flavor and are a great base for this sauce.

Add another bit of butter to the pan and throw in the shallots.

Saute the shallot until it starts to soften. Scrape up any little yummy brown bits left behind by the fish.

Pour in half a cup (half of one of those little bottles) of white wine. If you've got a gas stove, be careful of any alcohol-burning flames!

The juice from half a lemon will brighten the fish's flavor.

A dash of cream adds just a little richness.

And some fresh parsley gives a brownish sauce some color.

Give the sauce a stir and let all the newly-added ingredients heat up.















Pour your warm sauce over your fish. Give it another squeeze of lemon juice if you like. In less than half an hour, you should have a beautiful piece of fish covered with a tangy, lemony, slightly sweet sauce that tastes like it came from a professional kitchen. Give this recipe a try the next time you're in the mood for fish. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Recipe: Simple Pan-Fried Fish
1 large fish fillet (any whitefish)
flour
salt and pepper

1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. butter
1 shallot, minced
1/2 c. white wine
juice from half a lemon
1 tbsp. cream
1 handful parsley, minced


In a large, flat dish, combine flour and salt and pepper. Lightly coat fish in flour mixture.

In a large pan, melt butter and olive oil over medium heat. Carefully add fish. Let each side cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and fish is cooked all the way through. Remove fish from pan.

In the same pan, add butter and shallot. Saute until shallot is softened. Lower heat to medium-low. Add wine, lemon juice, cream, and parsley. Heat gently until sauce is hot. Spoon over the fish and serve.