Spicy Corn and Crab Southwestern Soup with a Cajun Twist

I was considering what to make with the sweet corn I had in my fridge. I recalled I had 16 oz of pastured lump crab meat from Costco in the fridge. I thought we had heavy cream, so I had planned to make a corn and crab chowder recipe I had found in the Southern Living site. In finding the cream was gone (Really Bruce, just how much cream did you put in that thermos of coffee?), I punted and made something different. Bruce loved this spicy soup and wants me to make it again.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 6 slices of thick cut bacon, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 celery stalks, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 3/4 jar of Good & Gather Hatch Chile Salsa
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken stock
• Corn kernels cut from 6 ears of corn (3 cups)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 16 oz of lump crab meat
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Wosesteshire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoons of liquid Zatarain’s Shrimp & Crab Boil (You might want to start with 1/4 teaspoons and add more to taste.)
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Tools:

A large pot or Dutch oven, cutting board, knife, wooden spoon for stirring, plate, paper towels, small bowl

Instructions

1. Cook bacon in large pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bacon pieces are crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. While bacon is cooking, cover plate with paper towels.
2. Scoop out bacon pieces and drain bacon pieces on paper towels.
3. Pour the bacon fat from the large pot into the small bowl and measure back into the large pot, two tablespoons of bacon fat. If you don’t have enough bacon fat, add some vegetable oil to make up the difference.
4. Over medium-high heat, add the onion, celery, and Hatch Chile Salsa to the bacon fat in the large pot. Stirring occasionally, cook for 6 to 7 minutes.
5. Stir the flour into the pot and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Pour the chicken stock into the pot and add the corn and butter. Scrap up any cooked flour from the bottom of the pot. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once the soup has started to boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
7. Gently stir in crabmeat, salt, Worcestershire sauce, Zatarain’s Shrimp and Crab Boil, and black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until crab is heated through, about 4 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more if needed.
8. Divide the soup evenly into serving bowls; top with the evenly divided bacon.

Notes:

An additional garnish with chopped cilantro would be attractive.

You can also cook the bacon as slices and crumble it up for the garnish after it has cooled down.