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Northwest Seafood Chowder

Alex Fredrickson
When you think of Pacific Northwest seafood, what comes to mind? With the cooler weather along the Oregon Coast, oyster and crab harvest is going strong, and what better way to combine these fresh seafoods than in a warm and delicious chowder!
Rather than following a classic recipe, I’ve made some twists and amped up the flavor with yeast extract. I also included another PNW staple, mushrooms, which are grown and foraged throughout the area. Go fresh with the seafood – Dungeness Crab is widely available from December to April – and you can’t go wrong with fresh oysters from Netarts Bay, Oregon or Willapa Bay, WA. Pulling this all together gives a creamy and savory chowder that will warm you up on those long, cool nights.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course Soup
Servings 6 - 8

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 large onion , diced
  • 2 large carrots , diced
  • 1 teaspoon yeast extract (Marmite) or nutritional yeast
  • ½ lb chopped Shiitake mushrooms
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • ½ cup flour
  • 4 cups of seafood or chicken broth
  • 4 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 lbs of yellow potatoes , cubed
  • 2 cups of heavy cream
  • 18 freshly shucked oysters or 16 oz jar of oysters , chopped
  • ½ lb Dungeness crab meat
  • ½ cup parsley , chopped

Instructions
 

  • Melt butter in stock pot on medium-high heat and add onions and carrots with 1 tsp of salt. Cook until softened, 7-9 minutes.
  • Add yeast extract, stir to combine.
  • Add mushrooms and cook until water releases from the mushrooms, 2-3 minutes.
  • Add wine and cook until ½ of the liquid has evaporated.
  • Add flour and stir to absorb all the remaining liquid then add the broth, stirring constantly, to ensure no flour clumps remain.
  • Add thyme, bay leaves, and potatoes. Cover and boil gently for 15-20 minutes.
  • Once the potatoes are tender, add the oysters along with ½ tsp of black pepper
  • Add crab meat immediately before serving. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Garnish with parsley and serve with your favorite crusty bread.

Notes

The chowder will improve even more if it is made ahead of time, refrigerated, and reheated to a slow simmer.
Keyword seafood