Creole Shrimp & Potato Chowder

The other day, a Pampered Chef order I had placed back in September finally decided to grace me with it's presence. I dunno what the deal is lately, but their shipments have been taking FOREVER to get here! They used to take two weeks, now it borders on anywhere between a month to a month and a half. 

Re-donk-u-lous! 

Anyway, since the weather is getting chilly here, Eric started flipping through the new cookbook I got, which is "All New Soups, Stews & Chili's"

After flipping through the book several times ( it has 20 recipes ), Eric and I finally narrowed it down to "Creole Shrimp & Potato Chowder" ... I consider it a personal win for me since Eric is NOT a fan of seafood :) I've been wanting him to "expand" his horizons when it comes to eating seafood because I'm rather tired of constantly eating chicken (I can't stomach red meat very well).

Ingredients: 

 

The cow on the heavy cream makes me chuckle.. if you happen to buy the "Non-Fat" milk, the cow looks like a stick :)

1 lb large uncooked shell-on gulf shrimp (21-25 per pound)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 bottles clam juice

2 cups chicken stock

1 medium onion

2 stalks celery

1 large russet potato, unpeeled

4 slices of uncooked bacon

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 garlic cloves, pressed

2 tbsp Creole Rub

1 cup dry wine such as Chardonnay

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Directions:

1. Peel, devein shrimp and remove tails; do not discard shells or tails. Cut shrimp into small pieces; set aside.

Heat oil in Casserole over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add shells and tails; cook 3-4 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Place shells, tails, clam juice, and stock into Large Micro Cooker. Microwave, covered on HIGH 8-9 minutes or until hot. Keep covered with lid, set aside.

2. Meanwhile, on clean cutting board, finely chop onion and celery using Food Chopper. Dice potato and slice bacon crosswise into 1/4 inch strips using Santoku Knife. Set potato aside. Add bacon to Casserole and cook over medium heat 5-7 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from Casserole using Small Slotted Turner (do not drain drippings). Set bacon aside.

3. Add onion and celery to Casserole; cook 3-4 minutes or until tender. 

Add flour, pressed garlic and rub. Cook and stir 30 seconds or until combined. Add wine and simmer 3-4 minutes or until wine is reduced by half. Strain broth mixture through Micro Cooker lid into Casserole. Add potatoes and half and half. Bring to a simmer; reduce heat to medium-low and cook 12-14 minutes or until chowder is thickened and potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in shrimp, salt and thyme, if desired. Cook 3-4 minutes or until shrimp are pink and opaque. Serve with bacon.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but with all the shrimp we had to devein and chop up, I really wasn't wanting to touch my camera with shrimpy hands! The chowder came out AWESOME! Eric and John loved it :) I will say, though... the recipe says it takes 45 minutes for it to be completely finished.. and I beg to differ. De-veining shrimp is very time consuming!