Shrimp chowder

I was wondering through the grocery store yesterday with no real plan for dinner which for me is usually not a good idea, but in this case my inspiration came in the form of some beautiful shrimp.

I knew instantly that dinner would be shrimp chowder

The green onions are completely optional but, I had them so I threw them in……plus I like the way they look in the chowder.

get everything chopped into small pieces

do a better job than I did…….I started out OK on the green onions, and the celery wasn’t too unevenly chopped, but the onions were a little wonky

put about 4 tablespoons of olive oil in your pan then toss in the veggies

add a pinch of salt and pepper…………you’ll add more later once you’ve gotten close to the end, sometimes broth can be a little salty so don’t over do it now

peel about 4 gold potatoes, or russet, or red, or any other kind of potato you like

put a couple of tablespoons of butter in with the veggies……..you knew I’d add butter

next add 1  -  32 oz box of broth……… “box of broth”  every time I write that it sounds so funny in my head

drop in one bay leaf

followed by a good size pinch of  parsley and a small pinch of thyme

toss in the chopped potatoes

and one finely chopped garlic clove

pour in 2 cups of milk

I tasted it and decided to add a little more salt and pepper

I put in a few good shakes of cayenne pepper………..yum!

next I added 1 – 1/2 cups of heavy cream

next I made a roux to thicken the chowder

I used 1/2 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of self rising flour

cook the roux for a few minutes until it starts to turn light tan in color

pour it all in at once and give it a big stir

you can see the roux doing its thing

fish out the bay leaf

then add you shrimp

the shrimp will only take about 3 minutes to cook so you can eat right away

I used about 1 pound because I wanted it to be really shrimp-y

it was perfect!

then guess who came walking in and couldn’t wait for a bowl

I poured him one anyway……….and then another!

perfect for a rainy cold night

Enjoy!

the wanna be country girl – Caroline

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