It’s so rare that I make a recipe that is as easy as this one. If you have some of that new long-term fresh canned crab on hand, you could make all of this from cans. I prefer larger shrimp (probably frozen type) to the canned ones, but even with that, it’s still very, very easy to make.
It’s been umpteen years ago that I had this soup the first time. My friend Cherrie and I took a trip to England together. We’ve done that twice, so I’m not sure which trip it was, but we went to visit dear friends near Reading (in England they pronounce that redding), and Rita had made this lovely soup for us to have, as we arrived quite late at night. All we had to do was heat it up and serve it. Cherrie wrote down the recipe and has made it several times over the ensuing years. Rita also shared another recipe that’s here on my blog, a lemon sponge pudding that’s just “the best.”
I’d forgotten all about this delicious soup, but we decided to make it recently for our New Year’s Eve dinner for the 4 of us. It was easy and quick and we didn’t have anything else except some fresh rosemary olive oil bread on the side. No salad. Nothing else, and it was very satisfying.
We did use some bigger fresh shrimp (well, they say all shrimp has been frozen whether it says so or not), and because the only fresh crab I could find (also likely previously frozen) was King crab at $39.95 a pound with shells, I decided to buy some lump lobster meat instead. Which actually got totally lost in the soup. It’s a shame to buy half a pound of lobster meat and not really taste it.
With the two of us working in the kitchen together it took about 20 minutes to make, beginning to end. We had been playing many rounds of Mexican Train as we sipped some champagne, then we took a break to fix this light dinner. Easy for sure. And very tasty.
This soup is mostly milk, not cream, although it does have a cup of half and half in it. It’s quite low in fat too. This is a light kind of soup – it’s not thick at all – and it’s not overly rich, either. You can easily have a big bowl of it and not feel stuffed. Don’t expect this soup to be one of those over-the-top kinds that radiates butter or cream – no heavy cream in it – and no butter. If you’d like to richen it up a little, add a tablespoon or two of butter at the end (or add it in earlier when you cook the potatoes), and also add about 1/3 cup of heavy cream. But it didn’t need it – it was lovely as it was. It’s also not overly fishy, either – there isn’t any fish in it, just the shellfish. If you like canned clams, canned shrimp and canned crab, you can keep those on hand to make this on the fly.
The corn – it calls for a pound can of creamed corn, and I paid attention to that because once served you really can’t even tell there was any corn in it. So that’s why I’ve added just the one line about optional fresh corn cut off the cob. If you happen to have some, add that too, although truly it’s not a necessity.
What’s good: just how easy it was to make, and mostly from cans, although we didn’t do that exactly. It’s a light soup – not rich or heavy or thick. It would make a great family night dinner with some bread. If you want to fancy it up, add some cream and butter.
What’s not: really nothing – it was a very satisfying soup – I liked it very much.
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Savory Seafood Chowder
Recipe By: My friend Cherrie, but she got it from Rita, a very dear friend from England
Serving Size: 5
NOTES: By reading the recipe you know there is corn in it, but the corn is so much in the background you’d hardly know it’s there. That’s why I added the optional item at the end – the fresh corn. If you want to make it a bit more elegant, add a pat of butter to each bowl and add some heavy cream to the mixture as you’re heating it at the end.
6 ounces crab meat — fresh, or lobster meat
1/4 pound shrimp — raw, medium sized, cut in chunks
4 pieces bacon — diced
8 ounces canned clams — (including juice)
2 cloves garlic
2 cups diced potatoes — peeled, Idaho (I use one medium potato)
1 cup dry white wine — (vermouth works)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
16 ounces creamed corn — canned
3 cups 2% low-fat milk
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup green onions — chopped
2 tablespoons Italian parsley — chopped (reserve a little for garnish)
OPTIONAL (not in the original recipe):
1 cup fresh corn — cut off the cob
1. Drain crab, shrimp and clams, reserving all the liquid.
2. In a large skillet (big enough to hold all the soup) cook bacon gently for several minutes until crisp. Add garlic and stir briefly. Do not brown. Add potatoes, reserved liquid, wine and seasonings. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are barely cooked through.
3. Add all the seafood, corn, milk, half and half, onions and parsley. Heat through using low to medium heat until it just reaches a simmer. Do not boil or the mixture will separate. Scoop into soup bowls and garnish with reserved parsley.
Per Serving: 467 Calories; 13g Fat (26.9% calories from fat); 35g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 128mg Cholesterol; 856mg Sodium.
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