Peg’s Shrimp Corn Chowder

Spicy Shrimp Chowder

7 cups homemade or canned vegetable broth (If I don’t have homemade, I use the Better Than Bouillon concentrated base)

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, shells reserved (I cut the shrimp in half)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 medium carrots, peeled & diced

3 ribs celery, diced

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 to 1 finely minced jalapeno, or to taste

1 tablespoon ground coriander (can be omitted if you don’t have it)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 tsp. cayenne (or substitute a few dashes of hot sauce)

Salt (sea or kosher) & freshly ground black pepper (hold off a bit on the salt if you are using a commercial broth)

2 medium baking potatoes, peeled & diced fairly small

5 plum tomatoes diced (in the winter I use grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in halves or quarters)

1 10 oz. package frozen corn, or 1 11 oz. can, drained

1 cup cream or half-and-half (I use fat-free half-and half)

Chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Heat broth to simmer in a large saucepan. Add shrimp shells (reserve shrimp in fridge); simmer 10-15 minutes.

2. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot; add onion, carrots, celery, jalapeno and garlic; sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. (You want your vegetables in about a medium dice, not too big.) Add vegetable broth, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper and heat to a boil. Add potatoes, tomatoes and corn. Reduce to a slow simmer and cook until vegetables are tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly.

3. Transfer a third of the vegetables to a food processor or blender, puree. (I just leave it in the pot and use an immersion blender for 10-15 seconds. Leave most of it slightly chunky; you want some texture.) Return puree to pan, add half-and-half and shrimp. Cook over low heat until the shrimp just turn pink, about 1 minute. Do not boil or shrimp will turn tough.

Garnish with cilantro. Serve in the biggest, prettiest bowls you have.

Yields 10 main-course servings. (The original calorie count from the paper has a serving at only 175 calories, and that is using cream, so using the fat-free half-and-half makes it come in at even less! Or use half 1/2 & 1/2 and a bit of real cream, whatever.)    

I got the original recipe from the Chicago Tribune about 7 years ago, and have adapted it a bit over the years to this version. I serve it with a pinot grigio (a sauvignon blanc would go well too) and some good crusty bread.

*****

Dang, Peg, that sounds delicious.  Thanks.

Come On-A My House; I Want to Give You Candy!

The interview would have been longer, but someone (cough*Butcher*cough) put 226 photos of dice on the camera and I only had three and a half minutes.

Still, good fun.

Feed My Family

I’m thinking of feeding my family a hearty chicken noodle soup as our Christmas dinner.

I’ve got a recipe but it seems to consist solely of chicken, carrots, onions, and noodles.

But I’m open to better suggestions.

The Recovering Baptist Saves the Day!

The Recovering Baptist came over and cleaned my bathroom, swept my steps and my landing, and somehow made cleaning the kitchen not suck so bad.

She is magic.

It was amazing. I think she really likes to do that stuff.  And it looks good and it smells good.

I did my first bed interview with her, which turned out pretty funny, but not in the on-purpose way.  The dog insisted on laying between us like a piece of wood between unmarried settlers.

If I can get it uploaded to YouTube, I’ll post it tonight.  We discuss the Refugee Baptist and Sista Smiff, so good times.  Also, you’ll see the dog lick the cat, which is certainly something I’d never seen before.

Next, I hope to get Miss Plimco.  And maybe, someday, Blake, with his great big cute eyes.

And his cold conservative heart.

I tease.

I bet I could talk B-Dub into it, though, and boy do I have some questions for him.