My husband and I love seafood and my kids like most seafood as well, especially my daughter. My grocery store was advertising crab legs last week and I had been wanting to make this stew, so it seemed like a good time to do it.
The soup is crab based, meaning the broth is made using the crab shells, and the meat is served in the soup along with whatever other seafood you like. I used shrimp, calamari and scallops. The broth starts with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, fennel frons, dill, peppercorns, bay leaf the the crab shells cleaned of their meat. Getting meat out of crab legs can be a pain, but you don’t need a bunch of tools. A good pair of poultry shears (used for breaking down whole chickens) are great for the job and the only tool I used.
The broth is then cooked with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, fennel, wine, and some potatoes and the seafood. The creaminess comes from some egg yolk/cream added at the end. We really loved this soup and I would definitely make it again. I served it with the French bread I posted yesterday and a simple salad.
Crab Stew
Ingredients
- 1 lb crab legs thawed if frozen and cooked
- 2 small onions 1 peeled and cut in half for broth and 1 diced
- 2 small carrots 1 trimmed for broth and 1 diced
- 4 ribs celery 2 trimmed for broth and 2 diced
- 4 cloves garlic 1 for broth, 3 minced
- 1 fennel bulb trimmings used for broth, rest diced
- 2 tsp dried dill divided
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 oz clam juice
- 2 cups water
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 8 oz yellow potatoes peeled and diced
- 1 lb misc seafood of your choice clams, shrimp, calamari, scallops, fish
- 1 egg yolk room temp
- 1/4 cup cream room temp
Instructions
Make the stock:
- Remove the cooked crab meat from the legs and set aside in a bowl. Add the onions halves, whole carrot, celery ribs, garlic clove, fennel frons, peppercorns, bay leaf, clam juice, water, half the dill, some salt and pepper and the crab shells to a large pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer about 20-30 minutes, adding a little water if needed, until broth is deep golden color. Strain the broth through fine mesh strainer and set aside.
Make the soup:
- Wipe out the pot and heat the oil over medium high. Add the diced onion, celery, carrot, garlic and fennel. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil and cook until reduced by about half.
- Add the stock and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 10-15 minutes. Whisk the yolk and cream together and set aside.
- With broth at a simmer, add the extra seafood and cook until it is just cooked through. Timing depends on the size and if it was frozen or not. Most seafood cooks in a few minutes. Add the crab meat and allow to warm.
- Turn off the heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the hot broth to your cream/egg mixture while whisking. This helps to temper the egg so it won't scramble. Then carefully whisk the mixture into the soup, being careful not to break up the crab meat. Taste and season with salt and pepper and serve along with some bread.