Taking Stock

When I posted the picture of my crab-and-corn chowder on Instagram last month, I promised a full write-up of the recipe and details. So here it is!

On the advice of a friend I ordered some Alaskan king crab legs for New Year’s. They were delicious, but we wound up with too much. That meant coming up with a way to use the leftover crab meat right away, as that just won’t keep.

I had a memory of a delicious crab and corn chowder I’d had at a beachside restaurant years ago and decided that was the way to go.

I believe any truly good soup starts with superior stock. Fortunately we had the makings of just such a stock in the pile of shells I refused to allow anyone to throw away that night, plus the baggies of vegetable trimmings I keep in the freezer for all stock-making occasions.

I keep the clean peels and trimmings of any carrots, celery, garlic, and onion (including near-cousins such as leeks) we use in the freezer, adding to the bag over time. A fully-filled quart-size bag of these mixed trimmings is about the right amount for a pot of stock.

My basic stockmaking technique uses my electric pressure cooker. I start with whatever bones I’ve got – I tend to freeze these, too, until I’ve got a gallon-size ziplock full of the same kind of bones. I start by spreading the bones out on a baking sheet and roasting them in the oven for an hour at 350º to deepen the flavor. (I skipped this part with the crab shells.) Then I put the bones or shells into the pressure cooker, cover with water, and set to high pressure for an hour (chicken bones) to an hour and a half (all other bones/shells).

After the first cooking cycle, I open up the lid and use a wooden spoon to break up the bones a bit. Chicken bones in particular will be soft enough to mush, which is great, as that allows more of the marrow to make its way into the stock. For stronger bones, I sometimes need my kitchen shears to cut them up. Crab shells, it turns out, do not get softer or easier to break after time under pressure in the water – something I should have realized if I’d thought about where crabs spend their lives and the primary purpose of a crab shell.

At this point I add the vegetable peels, plus one bay leaf and about a half-dozen peppercorns. (Those items don’t need as much time in there as the bones or shells do.) I close up the pressure cooker and give it another one (for chicken) or one and a half hours (all other stocks).

At the end of that time, I strain out all the solids using my finest mesh strainer. At this point I’ve achieved broth, and if that’s what you want, you can salt it to taste and you’re done. I prefer to reduce it further to make stock or even demi-glace, so I return the lovely liquid to the pot. I don’t add salt just yet because it’s going to reduce further and it would be easy to over-salt it. I set it to simmer (with the lid off) for another 1 to 2 hours depending on how much I want to reduce it. My house always smells amazing at this point.

At the end of that time I add salt to taste, and pour it into jars to store in the refrigerator or freezer. Most stocks will keep for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator, and 3-6 months in the freezer. However, I don’t trust seafood *anything* to keep terribly well, so I used that crab stock right away, along with the leftover crab meat, to make this recipe:

• 4 slices crisp-cooked bacon, chopped or crumbled
• 4 tbsp reserved bacon grease
• 1 celery stalk, finely diced
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 6 tbsp flour (I recommend Wondra)
• 4 cups crab stock or other seafood stock
• 2 cups fresh white corn, uncooked, cut from the cob
• 3/4 cup cream
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 lb fresh crab meat chunks, lightly steamed

Heat the bacon grease in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-low heat. Sautee the celery and onion in the bacon grease until soft. Whisk in the flour and cook 3 minutes, stirring well. Whisk in the crab stock. Add the corn. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cream, Cajun seasoning, salt, pepper, cumin, and crab meat. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve topped with bacon.