A budget dish with a gourmet taste? Cream of crab soup!
Rapidly rising food costs have all of us looking for economical meals to serve the family. The first candidates which come to mind are chili, hot dogs and beans, tuna sandwiches or, fast becoming treats, hamburgers or fried chicken. Living on a tight food budget doesn't mean your food must be boring. One dish that's cheaper to make than most of these cheap meals is cream of crab soup.
Even if you buy the genuine article, a half pound of crab, made into a cream of crab soup, will serve six people generously. However, if you use the Krab(TM) facsimile product, you'll get that gourmet crab flavor and be able to use three times the amount of meat for less than half the price of the real McCoy. This is truly a budget friendly meal with the gourmet flavor, easy to make and a pleasure to eat. Here's how to make this delicious soup.
Begin by making a roux in a large pot. Have a quart of milk at the ready, as you need to work quickly once the roux is ready. To make a roux, melt about four tablespoons of butter over low heat. Using a whisk, gradually stir in, a tablespoon at a time, an equal amount of flour, whisking the mixture constantly. Tip the pot as necessary to mix the butter-flour mixture throughly. Keep the heat low and don't allow it to burn. Cook for at least ten minutes, which cooks the flour to a point where your cream of crab soup doesn't acquire a floury taste in the finished sauce.
When the roux has the consistency of a thick paste, start adding the milk, just a few tablespoons at a time, always stirring with your whisk all the while. When you've added sufficient milk to give the roux the consistency of a thick sauce, you can add the milk in greater amounts, until the entire quart has been incorporated into the sauce. Continue cooking, over a low-medium heat for several more minutes. The sauce will continue to thicken. If the resulting sauce is too thick for your taste, add small amounts of milk until it's the consistency you prefer. Add the crab or Krab(TM) and reduce the heat to low, while you prepare the rest of the contents for the pot. This forms the basis of your cream of crab soup.
Clean and slice 4-5 white mushrooms, peel and dice one medium sweet onion and thinly slice a stalk or two of celery. Open a 15-ounce can of sweet corn and drain the liquid. If you prefer, substitute one medium sweet red bell pepper for the corn. Add all of these ingredients to the pot, stirring the bottom and sides of the pot occasionally, to prevent burning the sauce. Add a pinch of powdered cayenne pepper and stir again. This adds a little zip to the flavor, as well as lending an attractive, slightly rosy shade to your sauce. Taste for salt. A pinch is probably all you'll need, if any. If you'd like to add a bit more cayenne to suit your taste, add just another half-pinch cayenne is a powerful spice, so taste carefully once it's in, it's there to stay!
Snip several tablespoons of fresh cilantro leaves to serve as a piquant garnish over each serving of your fabulous cream of crab soup! French bread, spread with garlic butter and grilled, completes your budget gourmet meal. Bon Appetit!
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