I wrote a couple weeks back about a little work lunch group we started here, and I’ve got a good crockpot soup recipe addition.
I had initially planned to blog about it every week, but last week’s soup ended up so unimpressive that I just couldn’t bear to. It sounded good. It had Italian sausage, winter vegetables, potatoes. It was edible, but it was undercooked, and by 1:30 p.m., I couldn’t wait for lunch anymore. Lesson learned: pre-prepping the ingredients and refrigerating things like potatoes will affect the cooking time. Also, sometimes the long, slow cooking time is just better.
This week’s offering also could have benefitted from a little longer cooking time, but it still turned out well. I made a Southwest crab soup (recipe below). The soup was intended to be soupy, not a thick chowder, but a little longer with the cream could have helped. A couple of diced potatoes probably would have made the soup more rib-stickingly delicious. I also think I could have stood an extra chipotle pepper. I used homemade vegetable stock I substituted half the crab for imitation crab to cut cost.
Crock Pot Southwest Corn, Crab and Roasted Red Pepper Soup (from thatsmyhome.com)
2 red bell peppers, roasted and cut into small cubes
1 dried New Mexico chili pepper *
1 C. boiling water
1 large onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. cumin seeds
1 T. chopped fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
4 C. corn kernels, thawed if frozen
6 C. chicken or vegetable stock
2 cans (6 oz. each) drained crabmeat
2 C. whipping cream
Fresh chopped parsley or cilantro
In a heatproof bowl, soak chili pepper in boiling water for at least 30 minutes. (If chili is not properly reconstituted, it can impart a bitter flavor to the soup.)
In a blender or food processor, puree chili, onion, garlic, cumin seeds and rosemary with d cup stock. Add to slow cooker stoneware along with remaining stock, bay leaf, salt, black pepper and corn. Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours.
Add roasted pepper, crab and whipping cream. Cover and cook on High for 15 to 20 minutes until heated through. Discard bay leaf. Spoon into bowls and garnish with parsley or cilantro. Serves 6.
* If you can’t find the dried pepper, add smoky hot pepper sauce, preferably made with chipotle peppers, to taste, when soup is done.
