Week 8:
I had a little lobster leftover from last Friday’s “Out of the Pantry” taping, so I decided to use it in this chowder. How can you go wrong with sweet lobster meat, corn, potatoes, cream, and smoky bacon? This recipe comes from the Boston Globe—as everyone said when we finished, “it’s a keeper!”.
LOBSTER CORN CHOWDER
Lobster is pretty affordable right now, but if you’d rather, you can substitute shrimp and/or scallops, or a combination—seafood chowder would be just as good!
Ingredients
- 1 lb cooked lobster meat, coarsely chopped
- 1 large leek, well washed, white and light green parts sliced thinly
- 3 stalks celery, sliced
- 8 cups lobster base
- 4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into small dice
- 3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
- 3 cups corn kernels (frozen or canned, thawed if frozen, drained if canned)
- ½ cup each: evaporated milk and heavy cream (or all heavy cream)
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Sauté the bacon in a soup kettle, just until it starts to crisp; stir often.
- Add the leek and celery and cook for 3 minutes; stir to scrape any of the bacon off the bottom of the pot.
- Season with black pepper and add the lobster stock.
- Bring to a boil and add potatoes.
- Simmer for 10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender; check the seasoning and add some salt, if needed (I thought the stock was salty enough).
- Add the corn and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the lobster and cream and simmer another few minutes, just until the chowder is bubbling at the edges.
- Serve hot, garnished with parsley and a few grinds of black pepper.
Notes
Because I only had the defrosted meat, I made a broth from a jar of lobster base (available in most supermarkets along with beef, vegetable, and chicken); otherwise, you could make a stock out of the lobster shells.