Smoked Corn and Crab Chowder with Mount Gay Rum

Ingredients

• 12 Jonah crabs
• 2 cups potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• 1/4 cup red pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 cup green pepper, finely diced
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 gallon half-and-half
• 2 cups hickory smoked corn (from 6 ears corn)
• 1-ounce sherry pepper sauce (recommended: Outerbridges Sherry Pepper Sauce)
• 1-ounce rum (recommend: Mount Gay)
• Paprika, for garnish

Directions

Fill a large stockpot with 1 gallon water. Bring water to a boil, add the crabs, and cook until tender and cooked through. Remove crabs when done and set aside to cool. Over high heat, reduce the cooking liquid until 1 quart remains to make crab stock. When crabs are cool enough, pick the crabmeat and reserve (should yield about 1 pound of meat).

Meanwhile, place potatoes in a large saucepan with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook potatoes until al dente. Drain and then place potatoes in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Melt the butter over medium-low heat in the same saucepan. Add onion, celery, red and green peppers, and saute until tender. Add flour and continue cooking for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add crab stock, potatoes, half-and-half, smoked corn, sherry pepper sauce, rum, and crabmeat, and cook until all heated through. Garnish with paprika.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.