Do you have a signature dish that you love to prepare that wows your guests every time? One of my favorite dishes is a hearty soup that I feel compelled to make this time of year. Maybe it’s because after living in San Francisco for so many years, I still feel connected to crab season. This chowder has California written all over it (wine, avocado and crab!), but who doesn’t like bacon and potatoes!?!?! It is easy to make and sounds oh-so-fancy. Check out the asterisks (*) below for some helpful tips on the ingredients (Honestly, I cheat a little…okay, a lot). I’m confident this soup will be a crowd pleasure at your table the next time you have guests over.
California Chowder (a.k.a. Crab & Hominy Chowder)
3 slices of bacon
1 large leek
½ cup dry white wine*
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup hominy*, drained and rinsed
12 ounces red thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ½ inch chunks
1 tsp salt
1 (or more) avocado
1 tsp of lime juice
¼ cup whipping cream
8 oz. (or more) Dungeness crab*, cooked and shelled
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup cilantro, chopped
2 fresh jalapeno chilies*, rinsed, stemmed and seeded
1 clove garlic
1. In a 4-6 quart pan over medium-high heat, cook bacon, chopped, until fat starts to render. Remove the bacon, wipe down the pan to leave just about teaspoon of fat and replace bacon in pan. Add white part of leek, halved, rinsed and thinly sliced. Stir until limp. Add wine and boil until almost evaporated. Add chicken broth, 2 cups of water, hominy, potatoes, and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make cilantro purée by combining in a blender or food processor: vegetable oil, olive oil, cilantro, chilies*, garlic and salt to taste. Set aside.
3. Pit, peel and chop avocado. Mix with lime juice. Set aside.
4. Stir whipping cream, salt and pepper to taste, into chowder. Add crab. Cover and cook until heated through, stirring as little as possible to keep crab intact. Spoon chowder into bowls and top each with a tablespoon (or more) of the cilantro purée and a spoonful (or more) of avocado.
Because I originally found this recipe in Sunset Magazine (and one of the many reasons I love it so much), they suggest a wine pairing, “With the rich crab, pungent chile and herbal cilantro, we like a creamy, minerally Pinot Gris. Cline’s Pinto Grigio-Chardony blend (California; $11) is great as well.”
*Okay, now let’s really talk turkey or crab, as it is. Once I have bought real Dungeness crab at the market, but it proved too expensive for me and my budget. To tell you the truth, I always make this soup with canned crab, but don’t tell anyone. Cans come in 6 oz. varieties, just like tuna, so while it is not so authentically San Franciscan, to make up for the error of my ways, I add more crab (12 oz.) because I’m not about to throw it away! Don’t use imitation crab, it doesn’t work well with this dish. Yes, I tried it once.
I know the recipe calls for dry-white wine. Any white wine that you are drinking while cooking or have around will work. I’ve tried good wine and a $4.99 bottle and it all good.
Additionally, you may not know what hominy is. It’s corn that has been processed to remove the hull and germ. People in the south ground it down to make grits. Mexicans use hominy in soups. I can typically find a huge can in the International section of our grocery store for $0.99. Yes, I throw away what I don’t use. It was ninety-nine cents and I don’t feel bad about it.
Other things I’ve learned about this dish over the years:
- Contrary to my firm belief that more bacon is better, it’s not for this dish. If ever you add too much bacon (as I have) you can offset the flavor with the whipping cream pretty well.
- While I am a wuss when it comes to spicy food, I do put in one jalapeno in the cilantro puree. It’s well-seeded (to remove the spicy), and adds great flavor. The original recipe calls for two. You be the judge.
- Unlike the bacon, more avocados are always a good thing.
- Regular brown (russet) potatoes work too, but I’d suggest zapping them in the microwave for two minutes before adding them to the soup. The downside is that the skin falls off too easily and doesn’t look as pretty.
Enjoy!
