New England Crab Chowder W Nutmeg Croutons Recipes

NEW ENGLAND SEAFOOD CHOWDER - THE REAL DEAL

Steps:

• In a large, heavy pot, place the fish and stock and bring to a boil. Cover pot and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Remove fish with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove and reserve the stock.
• In the same pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and saute until tender. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 4 minutes. Add reserved stock and mix well. Add potatoes, bay leaf and parsley and cook until potatoes are tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add scallops and shrimp. Cook until tender. Add clams and lobster and stir well.
• In a saucepan, heat half & half over medium heat until hot and add to the seafood mixture. Cook chowder, stirring frequently until slightly thickened and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle chowder into bowls and garnish with parsley.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a large stockpot bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the clams, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot and quickly stir the clams with a wooden spoon. Cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes longer (this will depend on the type and size of the clams), or until most of the clams are open.
• Transfer the clams to a large bowl or baking dish and strain the broth twice through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, being careful to strain out the sand. (You should have about 8 cups of clam broth. If not, add enough water to bring the volume up to 8 cups.) When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove them from their shells and chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Set the clams and broth aside.
• Cook the bacon in a large heavy pot over medium heat until crisp and the fat is rendered. Pour off all the bacon fat except 2 tablespoons. Add the 4 tablespoons butter, leeks, onions, and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaves and cook until the vegetables are thoroughly wilted, about 3 minutes, being careful not to brown. Add the potatoes and reserved clam broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the broth thickens slightly and the potatoes are very tender, about 30 minutes. (If you like a thicker broth, mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.). Remove from the heat, Discard the thyme stems and bay leaves, stir in the clams and cream, and season with the pepper and the salt to taste.
• Set the chowder aside for 1 hour, covered, to allow the flavors to marry. Place the pot over low heat and slowly reheat, being careful not to let boil. Serve hot; garnish each bowl with a pat of butter and some parsley and chives.

CRAB CHOWDER

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, celery, thyme, salt, and pepper in hot butter until onion and celery start to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir potatoes, milk, broth, cream, and clam juice into onion mixture. Bring to a simmer; cook until potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.
• Pour broth mixture into a blender no more than half full. Cover and hold lid down; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend. Puree in batches until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot and stir in crabmeat. Cook until soup is hot and crab is heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

JULIE'S CLAM CRAB CHOWDER (WHITE)

Steps:

• In a 3-quart dutch oven fry bacon until crisp and crumbles easily. (Remove bacon and set aside).
• Saute onion in bacon fat until tender.
• Add water, clam juice, potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender.
• (Do not drain).
• Add heavy cream, half-and-half and milk stirring frequently so it doesn't scorch.
• Heat to steaming (do not boil).
• Add clams w/juice, crab, bacon, butter, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes more stirring frequently.
• To Reheat: Only reheat as much as you can eat. Don't reheat the whole pot.

NEW ENGLAND CRAB CHOWDER W/ NUTMEG CROUTONS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, place the Peeled & cubed potato and chopped carrots. In a smaller bowl, put the minced garlic, chopped scallions & celery.
• In a large saucepan, warm 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat until it is melted. Add the garlic-scallion-celery mixture and saute, stirring until the scallions are wilted, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in flour and cook, until the flour is no longer visible, about 1 minute. Slowly pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the potato, carrots, pepper and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg. Let mixture return to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, drain the crabmeat and pick out any pieces of shell or cartilage. Toast thr bread.
• In a small saucepan or skillet, combine the remaining 4 tsp. butter with the remaining 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and cook over low heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Brush the toast with the nutmeg butter and cut into triangles.
• Increase the heat under the soup to medium-high and bring to a boil. Add the crab, and milk, and cook until just heated through, about 3 minutes. Serve the soup with the nutmeg croutons.