Corn and Crayfish Chowder

Ingredients

• 4 oz. soffritto
• 8 slices applewood smoked bacon, sliced into ¼ inch lardons
• 2 ribs celery, cut in ¼ inch crosswise slices
• 6 oz. peeled potato, cut to a ¼ inch dice
• 8 oz. corn kernels, off the cob
• 5 oz. cooked crayfish tails
• 9 T all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 quarts shellfish fumé (or substitute bottled clam juice)
• 3 cups half & half
• salt and hot sauce to taste

Method

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan render the bacon lardons over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they are deep brown and very crispy.  Under crisped bacon will have an unpleasant texture in the finished soup. 

Once the bacon is sufficiently crispy, add the flour and stir together.  Continue to cook until the flour smells slightly toasty, about 1 minute. 

Once the flour is aromatic, add soffritto, celery, corn and potato.  Allow to sweat briefly, about 1 minute, before adding the shellfish fume.  

Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil, stirring frequently.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the pot as it heats to ensure none of the ingredients are sticking or browning. 

Once the soup has come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until corn and potatoes are cooked through and fork-tender. 

At this point the soup can be rapidly cooled if it is not to be served immediately.  It can be reheated and finished with the remaining ingredients later.  If serving later, remove the soup from the heat, add cold half & half and chill the resulting mixture in a metal container nested in ice.  It is inadvisable to reheat the soup once the crayfish have been added, as, like most shellfish, they will have a tendency to toughen if allowed to overcook. 

Add the half & half and crayfish tails, stirring to combine.  Allow the soup to remain on the burner just long enough to reach a pleasant serving temperature and for the crayfish tails to be warmed through, just 2-3 minutes.  Adjust the seasoning to your taste with salt and a dash or two of hot sauce (you can use freshly ground black pepper instead of hot sauce if you don’t mind the dark specs in your creamy soup). 

Serve immediately in warmed soup bowls.  If you wish, each bowl can be garnished with a few fresh leaves of thyme and a splash of fresh lemon juice for a little contrast to the otherwise rich soup.  Enjoy!