Seafood Chowder

Yesterday's new recipe was a seafood chowder. The idea was sparked from watching The Food Network and watching a "Tyler's Ultimate" recipe for something called "Halibut and Cioppino". It looked AMAZING and I wanted to rush right out and buy all the ingredients and get to cooking. The problem was that it was chock full of lots of expensive seafood and the recipe had pretty bad reviews (even though when I watched him cook it I thought it looked fantastic). I decided I needed to head out to The Fresh Market and get some stuff...but before I left I checked their website to see what specials they had. While browsing their website I stumbled on a recipe for a seafood chowder that looked great and decided that might a better choice. I headed out with a general idea of what I was looking for. I hit a major road block when I got there with both my kids in tow and realized that they didn't have two of the main ingredients that my recipe called for, haddock and shucked oysters. I went out on a limb and without a recipe I picked up a pound and a half of peeled and deveined shrimp,16 ounces of crab meat and the typical soup potatoes, celery, onion..etc.

Once I got home I tried to look up some recipes using what I had but didn't find much that I liked. This is where I combined a recipe that I found online with what I know WE like at our house! I added some ingredients and changed around some things and then....voila...seafood chowder!

This was the recipe:

1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp (tails removed)
8-16oz lump crab (depending on your taste.We like crab meat!)
1 1/2 medium onions diced
1 shallot diced
4 cloves garlic finely minced
3 celery ribs (I cut down the middle and then a small dice).
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup flour
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 8oz bottle clam juice
1 cup white wine
2 1/2 pounds potatoes (I used a combination of red and white fingerlings) quartered.
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 cup heavy cream
fresh parsley
kosher salt & pepper to taste

Saute onion, shallot, garlic, and celery in hot oil and butter in a large pot over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Stir in broth and add clam juice, potatoes, old bay and white wine. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Stir in shrimp, crab meat, and heavy cream. Cook over low heat 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

Garnish with fresh parsley and season with kosher salt and pepper to taste.

I served this up in a bread bowl, but after eating this meal I wouldn't advise using the bread bowl to serve the chowder in because it soaked up most of the juice and the bottom got really soggy. I would serve this in a bowl with a nice hunk of french baguette and your favorite glass of white wine (drink whatever you added to the recipe!) Enjoy!