Crab Chowdah

I have had half a pound of lump crab meat
sitting in the freezer and I wanted to make something
good with it.
Something new and interesting.

But what?

How about a chowdah,
er, chowder?

Sounds like it's time to to turn to my good
friend Rosie Hawthorne of Kitchens Are Monkey Business
for advice.

Rosie gave me some ideas about
chowder and I went to work.

First I made the shrimp stock.

When we switched over the food from the old

fridge to the new one, I found two bags of shrimp shells.

I added 

1 carrot,

1 1/2 celery ribs

1/4 onion

2 garlic cloves

10 whole black peppercorns

I let this just barely simmer for just under an hour.

Do not let the bubbles reach the surface.

We shooed the Foodie Boyfriend out of the house

before making this as the smell

would have made him sick

since he is allergic to shellfish.

The stock is done.

After straining through cheese cloth,

the shrimp stock is ready for the chowdah.

The rest of the players for the chowdah.

2 slices bacon, chopped

4 ounces lump crab meat

1 carrot, diced

1 celery rib, diced

1/4 onion, diced

1 garlic clove, grated

1 large potato, diced

1/4 cup sherry

not shown: half and half

and the shrimp stock

salt to taste

black pepper

1 tablespoon Italian parsley, finely chopped, for garnish

2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped, for garnish

I fried the bacon pieces until they were crispy.

Then I added the carrots, celery and onion

and allowed them to sweat for a few minutes

before adding the garlic.

After a minute I added the potatoes.

Then I added the sherry and enough shrimp stock and

half and half to give the chowder the consistency 

I wanted.

If you find you need more liquid, 

then add more later.

Cook until the potatoes are nearly done

and add the crab at the end so that it 

can heat through.

Garnish with the fresh herbs and enjoy.

Even my picky husband who usually prefers

the can o'soup to my homemade soups

loved this.

Too bad the Foodie Boyfriend couldn't enjoy this.

Many thanks to Rosie Hawthorne for 

steering me in the right direction.

A New Take on Stock

I admit that I have been putting this one off for a while now. Oh, I'd been diligently saving shrimp shells in a freezer bag, but the idea of having my house smell like shrimp stock was somewhat unappealing to me. However, after reading the Suburban Hausfrau's take on shrimp scampi with pasta, using homemade shrimp stock, I decided to hold my nose and take the plunge.

Here I have my frozen shrimp shells in my new 2.5 liter saucepan. Also along for the ride are garlic, celery (the inner ribs with leaves), a carrot, two scallions, dried thyme and dried dill. A bay leaf and black peppercorns were also added to the pot.

The vegetables were cleaned and roughly chopped and the garlic cloves were smashed before being added to the pot. The herbs and peppercorns were then tossed in to add their flavor to the mix.

I allowed this to simmer for a couple of hours over medium heat. And yes, my house did smell like shrimp. Not perhaps my favorite smell in the world, but all in all it was not intolerable.

The stock was strained through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a heat-proof container.

At this point I had 1-1/2 quarts of shrimp stock. I decided that based on available freezer space, I needed to further reduce the stock. So I returned the stock to the sauce pan and allowed it to simmer for another hour or so, until I was left with one quart of the fragrant elixir.

After cooling, the stock was portioned out, labeled and frozen. Two cups was set aside for the shrimp scampi with linguine.

First, I added about a cup of the stock to water and after it reached a boil, I added kosher salt and the linguine. This cooked until al dente and then was removed from the water. The water was dumped and the pan was returned to the stove.

While the pasta cooked I prepped the remaining ingredients for the dish: peeled shrimp, diced shallot, grated garlic (3 large cloves), shrimp stock and unsalted butter.

Once the pan was returned to the hot burner, I added the butter, shallot and garlic. The shrimp go in and are quickly cooked. Remember that the shrimp will not take more than a minute or two per side to cook. In fact, at this point it is better to slightly under-cook the shrimp since they will be returned to the heat later.

I removed the shrimp from the pan and added the remaining shrimp stock. I let this reduce for just a moment before continuing to the next step.

The shrimp and linguine are added back into the pan and are tossed in the sauce.

The shrimp scampi with linguine is immediately plated and ready for the table.

A wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a fine grater are on the table so that the diners can grate the cheese over their serving. The shrimp stock adds a rich chord to the composition, rounding out the flavors nicely. My only regret is that I had no fresh Italian parsley to sprinkle over the dish.