Seafood and Idaho® Potato Chowder
Ingredients:
- ¼ pound bacon, diced
- 2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 8-10 ribs of celery, diced
- ½ cup flour
- 2 tablespoons thyme leaves
- 4 Idaho® potatoes, diced, cooked until just tender
- 1 pound shrimp, cooked, peeled and chopped (16 to 20 count in a pound)
- ½ pound crabmeat, chopped
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- Mussel stock (recipe follows)
- Mussels and clams from stock recipe
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Mussel-Clam Stock:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 ribs of celery, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped parsley stems
- 1 cup white wine
- 3 quarts water
- 20-24 mussels, scrubbed clean
- 20-24 small clams, scrubbed clean
- Salt to taste
Directions:
- Cook bacon in medium stockpot until just crisp. Add butter and melt. Add onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook until soft. Add celery and flour and cook 1 minute, stirring continually with a wire whisk, until the flour and butter/bacon fat are smooth.
- Pour mussel/clam stock into pot, add thyme and bring to a boil, whisking often to make sure soup is smooth. Simmer 3 minutes until soup thickens and celery is tender.
- Add potatoes, seafood and cream. Simmer until just heated through. Check for seasoning and serve immediately
Mussel-Clam Stock:
- Bring onions, celery, parsley and white wine to a boil. Season stock with a pinch of salt. Cook until wine is reduced by half. Add water and return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.
- Strain white wine vegetable stock, discard vegetables.
- Return stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Add mussels and cook approximately 2-3 minutes, until they open.
- Remove mussels to a plate and allow to cool. Return stock to a boil and add clams. Cook 3-4 minutes until they open. Remove clams to the plate and allow to cool.
- Remove mussels and clams from shells. Check mussels and remove beards if any. Pour any juices from the plate back into the stock. *This is pure seafood flavor*
- Let stock settle for 10 minutes. Carefully pour off stock into another container, leaving last 2-3 tablespoons in stockpot. This will capture any sand and grit that may come out of shellfish. Set aside this seafood stock for chowder recipe