Jack's Getting Ready To Cook

Big Jack is getting ready to cook. Little Jack is playing The Cookbook Game that his Aunt Gigi taught him. I can't believe our second daughter kept first daughter's son totally entranced with pushing grandma's cookbooks forward and backward on the shelf. Push them in. Push then out. Oh--ohh, here's another to push forward. And lookie here, here's another to push back. Aunt Gigi had Jack Aidan very busy.

He had to take off his shoes and socks to really get in the game. Go Jack Aidan. Work on grandma's cookbook shelves. Oh, I just noticed that Aunt Gigi was barefoot too. Enough, enough. We need to move on to the great soup recipe I promised you. And what is it? It is a recipe from Wegmans new Holiday magazine. So look below.

Wegmans Corn and Crab Chowder

As Modified By Joann Who Likes To Stretch A Dollar

How do you stretch a dollar? Where the original recipie calls for a pound of fresh crab meat that will set you back $25 at Wegmans's I used three cans of crab meat that cut the cost to $12. Their canned crab looks just like the fresh and with the paper liner in the can, there is no tinny taste. And where the original recipe called for 2 boxes of Wegmans gourmet frozen corn I just used three drained cans of corn. After all we are making soup. With soup you can get creative and find this and that from the fridge and cupboard to throw in the soup. With any baking which is an exact science follow the recipe baby to keep from having a flop.

Here's the ingredients:

First, peel two white potatoes and cut up and put in small saucepan with one can of chicken broth.

Second, heat two more cans of chicken broth in another saucepan till nice and hot.

Third, chop, chop and saute and saute in this fashion:

4 oz. pancetta saute in soup pot till done then add to the soup pot

1/2 cup sweet onion diced (I like Vidalias) and saute then add

3 cloves garlic diced (I like mild elephant garlic) and saute then add

1/2 cup celery diced and saute then add

1/2 cup carrot diced and saute then

Now add the two ingredients for making a roux:

1/2 cup of butter (one whole stick cut in pats)

1/2 cup of flower

cook on low heat while stirring frequently all this stuff: sauteed veggies and butter and flour.

I cook the roux a long time because I don't like a floury taste. I set my timer for 5-6 minutes. When you start to get a nice fragrant smell you know you are ready to move on with the recipe.

Now slowly add the heated chicken broth. Stopping to stir to incorporate the liquid. When that's good to go meaning that the broth has thickened quite a bit like it is a thin gravy you add the cooked diced potatoes in their broth.

Next drain three cans of reguler corn and dump in soup pot.

Now it is time to add some seasoning for flavor:

1 tsp or more of Old Bay Seasoning

1 tsp or more of dried thyme

1 tsp or more of Tabasco red pepper sauce

1 Tbsp of granuler chicken stock (Why? Because they don't make chickens

the way they used to so even the best chicken stock is bland)

1 shake of the kosher salt shaker and 1 turn of the fresh black pepper

grinder mill.

Now put the soup lid partially on and let this simmer for 1/2 hour. It's not soup if it hasn't simmered a while!

At this point I remove soup pot from stove and let it cool and put it in the refigerator to cool completely.

I finish the soup later in the day or the next day or even the next day by doing this:

1. Slowly reheat soup in pot. Do not boil. Just heat!

2. Add 8 - 16 oz. of light cream. Add the cream till you get the consistency

that you want. Hmmmm....so good!

3. Gently stir in your three cans of crab. Don't boil! Just heat it.

4. Do a taste check on your seasonings. Does it need a little more of......

5. Add another pat of butter to finish the soup.

Now dish up a bowl and serve it with some sourdough crusty bread for dipping in the soup. Very good, huh!

A New Soup From This Recipe

Roasted Chicken Soup

Try this with a store bought roasted chicken that you bring home and pull the meat off the bone and cube.. Follow directions above except substitute 1 tsp of poultry seasoning for the 1 tsp of Old Bay Seafood seasoning. You could make the chicken soup with the light cream or just add another can of chicken broth.