With the Christmas holiday drawing near, I plan on cooking
big.
So, I have been doing a lot of soups for dinner lately.
I like them because they are cheap, hearty and last me for a
week! Not to mention this variation is not bad on calories and will help me
stick to my fitness goals. Not Bad!
You know you are going to be in for a treat when she
showcases what she is whipping up on her blog.
I like that the recipes are detailed and have step by step
pictures that make them easy to follow.
When I saw that Lexi (and another one of the bloggers I
follow both) made corn chowder, I knew I had to give this recipe a go myself.
I like Lexi's version because it is really easy to follow. A
lot of recipes call for you to put half the soup in a blender to make it
thicker. Lexi does a little trick in the end with a cornstarch paste that is
just as effective and with less clean-up!
I give you, my recipe remake of Lexi's Spicy Crab & Corn Chowder!
Her Recipe Calls for...(my substitutions are in bold)
Ingredients:
1 can of crab meat* I used two because mine was shaved crab
meat
2 10 oz. boxes of frozen corn*
I used a 12oz bag
3 cans of chicken broth I used a 32oz box
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream I
used 1 pint...but 1/2 pint is recommended
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 I used precooked bacon
2 heaping tablespoons flour I
used wheat flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of cold water
2 {heaping for me!} tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning I used 4 tablespoons of Tony Chachery's Creole
Seasoning
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper {or more if you like it really spicy}
1/2 stick of butter I used
Pam Olive Oil Nonstick Spray
1 tablespoon olive oil I omitted this ingredient
I hate chopping veggies so I cheated and got the ones
already prepared in the produce section of my local store. The only thing I DID
chop was the carrots. I will tell you there is something about fresh veggies
that do so much for the flavor of a soup. While copping my carrots, I preheated
a large soup pot on the stove over med. heat.
I also used already cooked bacon. It comes just barely
browned so I had enough room to crisp it a little more to get the fat from it.
See what I mean, that's my bacon BEFORE I crisped it.
And this is after and while still in my soup pot. I used six
slices.
After removing my bacon and setting it to the side, I
sprayed some Olive Oil Pam nonstick spray in the pot, along with the bacon
grease, to substitute for butter. My pot
is still warming on med. heat at this point.
I added my veggies, sautéing them in the oils and seasoned
them with Morton's Nature's Season with no MSG! I love this stuff. It's like a
seasoned salt and pepper blend.
Next I added two heaping tablespoons of King Arthur Wheat
Flour to the veggies. I sprayed a little more Non-Stick Spray right afterwards and
stirred, to insure the veggies were coated well with wheat flour.
Then I added one box of Swanson 99% Fat Free Chicken broth
slowly to the mixture, stirring after each addition. (You should do this about
4-5 times, adding the broth and then stirring, adding more broth and then
stirring). Then I let this come to a
boil (Still on med. heat).
I added these seasonings to my broth and veggie mixture, 1tbls
of the paprika and cayenne and 4tbls of the Tony Chachere's .
After simmering about 3 minutes, I added one 12oz bag of
frozen corn and two cans of crab meat. (The brand I used gave me crab shavings
instead of chunks...Really?) I let the soup simmer for 5 minutes and then
reduced the heat to med. low.
Then I added a pint of heavy whipping cream. (That may have been
too much because my soup went from a golden brown to white...but...it still
tasted good! Next time I'll do a 1/2 pint, which is recommended.)
I let it simmer for another 3 minutes before I added 2tbls of
corn starch and 1tbls of cold water.
Then I stirred, let it cook for another three minutes before
turning the stove completely off and covered it. I added the cooked bacon as well.
The extra small bowl I sampled tasted AMAZING, but
I will eat it for dinner tomorrow and throughout the week with some low fat
corn bread!
Thank You Lexi!!!!!
