Crab Corn Chowder - SO GOOD!

Last night we steamed up some snow crab and had plenty of leftovers, I wanted to try something different from the usual crab sandwiches, they're good but I wanted to branch out!!  Hah!!  I took out this cookbook - if you live in Canada, I'm sure you've heard of Chef Michael Smith - his Chef at Home tv show is broadcast on HGTV Canada, it's also shown in the United States and many countries throughout the world.  And, he lives just a couple of doors down from my late mother-in-laws house in Prince Edward Island - we always would look in to his place when we'd pass by, it was always a behive of activity there!!  I guess the locals are used to him by now, but the day that he went strolling down the road, we were running to the window!!!

The cookbook does not disappoint - the recipe I chose was Crab Corn Chowder with Bacon and Thyme.  It was just so good!!

6 slices of bacon, sliced crosswise into narrow strips

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, diced

2 baking potatoes, diced

2 cups of fresh corn kernels

2 cups of chicken broth

2 cups of whipping cream

8 ounces of fresh crabmeat, carefully picked over for any stray bits of shell

1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme

A sprinkle or two of salt and lots of freshly ground pepper

Toss the bacon into your favourite soup pot over medium heat and cook it until lightly browned and crisp.  Transfer to a few folded paper towels to drain.  Pour off all but a tablespoon or two of the bacon fat.  Add the onions and celery to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until they're tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the potatoes, corn, chicken broth and cream and bring to a simmer.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, another 10 minutes or so.

Just before serving, stir in the crab, parsley and thyme. Simmer just long enough to heat everything through, another few minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to your taste.  Ladle the chowder into bowls and top with the reserved bacon.  I also added some of the bacon to the chowder pot.

This is a great recipe, I'll definitely make it next time we have leftover crab!!  Click on the pictures to see all that goodness!

 

Food in Florida

One of the best things about going away on vacation - no meals to plan - all you have to do is find a place and make your selection - nice for a week but I wouldn't want to be doing it all the time!!  We had some great meals when we were away - we only ate out for breakfast on two mornings, Continental breakfasts were provided at the hotels we stayed at.  Most were great, especially the deluxe breakfast at Hampton Inn - everything you would want - it was really nice!  And, then there's the opposite end of the spectrum - no fruit, no cereal, nothing except packaged Danish and gigantic muffins and bagels in a bag - but no toaster - eating a dry bagel in the car is not too appetizing.  

We didn't get pictures of everything, I guess sometimes we must have just been too hungry to think about taking a picture - travelling around does that to you!!!  

This was a restaurant we read about in Ft. Lauderdale so we wanted to try something with local fare - it was a huge restaurant, very loud, especially when the signal came and everyone started banging their wooden mallets.

We shared the Crab Sampler - garlic crab clusters, golden crab cluster, Alaskan Queen Crab legs and Dungeness Garlic Crab Cluster with parsley buttered potatoes.  The garlic bread we ordered was probably the best I have ever had - it was on a small loaf, made with real garlic, not a speck of garlic spread, I have to make it that way!!

Shivers Bar-B-Q -in Homestead was another local place - it doesn't look like much from the outside, but,oh, my, was it good.  We both had the rib and pulled pork combo, with cole slaw and baked beans.

I have never had a glass of wine that looked like that - you just peel off the top and take a sip!

We shared peach cobbler and was it good!!

Playa Cafe in South Beach Miami - we just started walking from our hotel for a breakfast spot - this was just a little hole in the wall place - it was all Cuban food,  Gary tried a Cuban coffee, which he liked.  You just order from this menu on the wall - I had an egg sandwich which was unlike anything I've ever had before.  I ordered an orange juice, it was fresh squeezed, it was the best part - funny thing, it cost as much as my breakfast, $3.49.  

Playa Cafe

On our way to the Keys, we stopped for lunch at Herbie's in Marathon

We both had the conch burger - let's just say, we'd never be ordering another one of those again - it was so chewy!  It looks nice in the picture but I surely would never crave a piece of conch!

After we took the air boat tour, we stopped for lunch at this restaurant

The chicken noodle soup was really good - a lot of noodles in that bowl!

We wanted to try some local fare again - we shared a sampler plate, it's a good thing it was only 2 pieces of each item - this would be a frog leg, which was ok, it tastes like chicken.  Also on the platter were gator which also tasted like chicken, hush puppies and fry bread - which was just a big mass of deep fried bread - yuck! 

Nothing too healthy at this spot!

Another Miami establishment - Kone Restaurant - Gary had the lobster plate which he really enjoyed.  I had the lobster and  shrimp ravioli, it was really good too, it doesn't photograph well at all though, that's why I'm not showing it.  

We had a couple of cool drinks on a hot night in Miami

This was in a diner car in Miami - dessert for both of us - and it was big - I had the brownie concoction, Gary had the banana split - his favorite.

One night we had a lovely shrimp dinner and the Florida standard, Key Lime Pie - I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of  that meal.

But, now it's back to eating properly - really, who could would want to eat that way for every long, home cooking tastes pretty good after eating all your meals out for a week.