One of the only real upsides of moving is the rediscovery of treasures. This time, I found my mom's long lost crab chowder recipe. Though I haven't had this in years, I can still remember the smell. I also remember how everyone raved about this on snowy Halloween after we all froze our butts off Trick or Treating.
My mom is letting me share this, so long as she gets credit. The original recipe is written on page torn from a steno notebook. It's spotted, crumpled and stained. Written in my mom's handwriting , with a large red note in sharpie at the bottom in mine- "only 1 recipe DO NOT DOUBLE". Since we were a family of seven, and I remember guests for the debut of this meal, it must have made a ton. She served it in sourdough bread bowls, but a soup bowl will work just as well with sliced sourdough on the side, in case you can't get the small round loaves for bread bowls.
1/2 stick butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 large potato
3- 6 oz.bottles clam juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tsp white pepper
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 quart half & half
2 ears fresh corn
parsley
2 cans crab
Simmer everything but the crab and half & half until the potatoes are very tender. Add the crab and half & half, simmer for 20 minutes on very low heat.
If you've never made bread bowls, the process is fairly straight forward. Cut a round hole in the top of the loaf, scoop out most of the soft interior. Brush with olive oil infused with thyme and garlic, then bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Serve the loaf interiors on the side or save for croutons or bread crumbs.
