Kk's Cream of Crab Soup
"As a Maryland native growing up, crab was always plentiful, available and fresh - usually caught that day. Today I buy fresh lump or jumbo lump crab for this soup, depending on the audience. Using a lesser grade of crab won't give you the premium results you are probably seeking."
photo by KK7707
- Ready In:
- 35mins
- Ingredients:
- 15
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 1 lb backfin crab meat
- 1⁄4 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons onions, chopped very fine
- 1⁄3 cup flour
- 1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth (don't use a heavy stock)
- 1⁄2 cup dry sherry (very dry sherry should be pale yellow in color)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 -9 dashes Tabasco sauce
- 8 -9 dashes of a less vinegary hot sauce (such as Texas Pete's or Frank's)
- 1 pinch cayenne (just a very light shake!)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste (use concentrated, it comes in a tube)
directions
- Gently remove cartilage from crab meat.
- Melt butter in a 2-3 quart sauce pan.
- Add the onion and cook 3-4 minutes - until translucent.
- Blend in flour and cook as a roux on medium-low heat until the flour-butter mixture "loosens", which indicates the flour is cooked (about 5 minutes).
- Off the heat, stir in chicken broth and sherry, return to the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper, milk and cream, then stir in Tabasco, cayenne and sugar.
- Use a little of the liquid to thin the tomato paste and stir it back into the soup.
- Cook on med-low heat until thickened, but do not let it boil.
- Taste it, and when the cream base is cooked and seasoned to your liking, add the crab.
- Heat gently another 5 minutes and serve.
- Serving suggestion: make a lightly sweetened whipped cream to dollop on top and serve with a small pitcher of the sherry to add at the table.
- A small amount of fresh chopped parsley around the edge of a soup plate is attractive, but don't use too much because you don't want to affect the flavor of the soup.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
This recipe was absolutly amazing. I love cream of crab soup, but I always find the recipies a little plain. This has a smooth blast of flavor. Thank you. I hand picked my crabs which we cooked with old bay and of course I added about a teaspoon of old bay to the soup. Other than that little bit of changes I followed the recipe exactly. Kudos to the creator. -
Another 5 star for your cream of crab soup...IA friend of mine tried it and fell in love with it.It is just one great recipe.Also thank you again for your helpful reviews of my puffing crab.. sandy
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
KK7707
Saint Petersburg
One of my passions is to feed people, but I wouldn't work in a commercial kitchen on a bet. It's too hard - and I have great respect for those who do it. I fix dinner for about 60 people once a year and am always looking for new recipes for "the party", which is what led me to this site. My husband and I also make and can jams (especially strawberry - plentiful in Florida, peaches, tomatoes and green beans, not to mention the annual cookie frenzy each December when we make about 75 dozen cookies for gifts. We also smoke salmon often. We love living in Florida, but miss the fine seafood, corn, tomatoes, peaches and apples of the mid-Atlantic coast.?Below I've?defined how I rate recipes to make my ratings more useful. I think this is important as I rely a great deal on ratings and comments by other Chefs and I would like to know what their standards are. How I rate recipes: 5 stars: These are recipes I expect to make many times and require little in the way of changes to be really, really good. This rating doesn't take into account as to whether a recipe is 'gourmet' or just plain good food - if I expect to make it often, it gets 5 stars. 4 stars: These are recipes that are very good, but for one reason or another I don't expect to make it often. The reasons for not making it often can be varied, such as difficulty or cost, but NOT because we just thought it was OK instead of great. These recipes are just as good as my 5-stars and are ones I would consider making again. 3 stars: These are recipes that one of my family or extended family liked or loved, but there wasn't a consensus that it was really good. 3 stars means I probably won't make again unless there are easy changes I can do to make it more to our liking. 2 stars: These are recipes that just aren't to my taste for one reason or another. Could be flavor, poor appearance, difficulty - just about anything. I don't plan to make it again. 1 star: These are recipes I didn't even end up serving to others and will not make again. Usually my problem with these recipes is with the taste. You won't find many of these ratings from me as it is sometimes kinder to just not rate it. If I do rate it, it is to make suggestions on how to improve it.
