Tag Archives: soup

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Crab Corn Chowder

I haven’t written up a recipe in awhile. But rest assured, I stayed busy in the kitchen all year.

I tend to prefer broth-like soups, but every wet, cold wintry day demands a spicy stick-to-your-ribs seafood chowder.

This recipe pairs crab and corn together for liquid gold creamy goodness. During warmer months, I usually omit the potatoes, but recently DH demanded potatoes in his chowder, so in they went.

Lite crab corn soup – minus the potatoes

The result is a kicky, New England-style chowder that’s sweet, spicy and chunky.

Base:

  • 4 oz onion, chopped or diced
  • 1 tablespoons evoo (for onion saute)
  • 16 oz lobster broth
  • 15 oz canned cream corn
  • 8 oz light cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit for less spicy)
  • .25 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp stevia or sweetener of your preference
Make your own lobster broth for best flavor! Slow cooked shells

Saute the onions over medium heat, then add the rest of the ingredients above and mix thoroughly. Immersion blend till desired liquid consistency. Pour into slow cooker, then add the following ingredients.

  • 16 oz russet potatoes, diced
  • 1 medium or large jalapeno, diced (remove veins for less spicy)
  • 4oz heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp corn starch
  • 6- 8 oz claw meat
  • 12 oz roasted corn
  • 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme

Slow cook until thickened and potatoes are tender and cooked through, about 20-30 minutes over high heat. I don’t recommend pressure cooking because there isn’t enough liquid in this recipe, which will trigger the burn warning. Slow cooking will let this dish develop its flavor over time and thicken as it cooks.

Prior to serving, stir in 6-8 oz of crab meat. Garnish with chives or green onions.

Dining, Recipes

When Mushrooms Go Wrong + Recipe: Gruyere Cream Cheese Mushroom Soup

I love mushrooms. I love their earthy taste especially when roasted. I love that they are capable of absorbing and releasing flavors depending on the dish. Deep-fried, stir-fried, braised, stuffed, stewed, grilled, or even raw, I’ll add a fungus to my dish any time the opportunity presents itself.

I have several mushroom soup recipes in my collection in an attempt to squeeze out as much shroom flavor from the edible fungi. One of my fave varieties is the shiitake mushroom. Shiitakes cook very well, and have a sweet-smoky-earthy taste that I enjoy with herbs and especially garlic. Since I started off the 2018 year stricken with laryngitis, my food consumption options were limited. Liquids were the least painful medium to get some nutrition into me.

I’ve whipped up a couple of slow-cooker mushroom soup recipes, working with standard whites, baby bellas and shiitakes tossed in homemade turkey broth along with garlic and some form of dairy. In my most recent attempt, I roasted a 30oz batch of shiitakes then immersion blended it in along with aforementioned liquids.

The result was too strong to be edible for most folks. Shiitakes are already naturally earthy and smoky, but it seemed too much made for an overwhelming amount of acrid smokiness in a soup that should have been creamy-but-mildly earthy. Nearly 2lbs of shrooms resulted in a thick, gloppy concoction…and even my attempts to puree it in my Oster blender still left a slight grittiness to it.

Not good if your throat is still recovering from severe inflammation and is prone to irritation.

So let that be the lesson…there is too much of a good thing, even if it is mushrooms.

  • 2 tbsp Extra Light virgin olive oil
  • 3.5oz Neufchatel, 1/3 less fat cream cheese
  • 3oz gruyere cheese, shredded or grated or cubed
  • 16oz white mushrooms, sliced
  • 8oz heavy whipping cream (non-dairy: almond, coconut milk)
  • 24oz of homemade turkey stock (chicken, beef okay too)
  • .5 tsp xanthan gum (for thickener)
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • .5 tbsp ground black pepper
  • .25 tsp sea salt
  • 8oz baby bella mushrooms

Simmer turkey broth and cream in slow cooker over high heat for 15-20 minutes.

In a pan over medium heat, toss 16oz of white mushrooms in olive oil until softened and fat is absorbed. Remove from stovetop and pour into slow cooker. Using an immersion blender, puree mushrooms until liquid is thick and shrooms are incorporated. Take care, this mixture is hot!

Add the rest of the ingredients, including whole bellas, and slow cook for 2-4 hours.

When ready to serve, sprinkle with chopped parsley and shredded parmesan cheese, or make oven-roasted cheese crisps.

Nutrition calculator:
Calories 137 (per 4oz serving)
Total Fat 10.7 g
Total Carbohydrate 5.1 g
Dietary Fiber .7 g
Sugars 1.6 g
Protein 4.9 g

Dining, Recipes

Recipe: Basic Bone Broth

I’ve been having a blast lately making soups with my homemade bone broth, mostly derivations of Vietnamese pho, minus the banh (or rice noodles). It made for a more mindful and healthier start to 2017.

Bone broth is so easy to make, it makes me wonder why I ever bothered buying cartons of the store-bought stuff (e.g., convenience). But studies have revealed the healthy benefits of collagen, gelatin and all the minerals and electrolytes that go into bone broth (hello, gut health, reduced inflammation, alleviating joint issues, hydration for post-workout and the list goes on) that it’s an easy decision to skip the commercial boxed or bouillon types.

So for my very first bone broth (back in April 2016) I needed only 3 ingredients: about 3 pounds of center-cut grass-fed beef marrow bones (found at Whole Foods Market), 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and enough water to fill a 5 quart slow cooker.

Dump all ingredients in the pot and cook low and slow (BBQ types know this phrase well enough) for 12-24 hours.

Now because these bones were sourced from Whole Foods, they were relatively picked clean and “not so scummy/bloody” while they rendered out during the slow cooking process. Some food blogs suggest parboiling before simmering the rest of the cook time. But, in future posts, I tried different cuts of meat and bone with the result of a less transparent broth. Nevertheless, in all endeavors, it was worth getting a mini fine-mesh strainer with rubberized silicone handle to stream the liquid through as I prepped the broth for storage. Obviously, I didn’t want to refrigerate anything suspended in the broth that risked altering the flavor in the long term.

Yep, there’ll be a small amount of fat in this collagen-rich broth. It’s part of what gives this broth that mouth-coating feel when sipped straight out of the cooker. Some folks can’t tolerate it which is why I suggest storing the broth in the refrigerator overnight, then removing the fat that gels on top of the broth the next day. SAVE THAT FAT, though! Store it in the refrigerator and use it in sautes and stir fries later!

If you’re curious, this is an unseasoned broth so it will taste bland right out of the slow cooker. I intended to use it as a base for other dishes like stews and sautes.

Thanks to Nom Nom Paleo, Wellness Mama and The Kitchn that shared instructions and plentiful tips on how to make and store bone broth.