For as long as I can recall I have cherished a good bowl of creamy seafood
chowder. I don't know what it is about it that placates me so, but when I'm
weary or at all under-the-weather this is the soup I crave most. The nurse
in me might try to explain it all away with the protein in the fish or the
calcium in the milk. The "cuisine-atrice" in me will say it might be the
warmth or the creaminess...or the scant bits of different types of seafood,
the softened chunks of potato and onion...or that it might just be the pepper that harmoniously pulls all the tastes and textures together. Whatever it is, this soup is penicillin, benedryl and Tylenol all wrapped up in a cozy bowl of goodness just for me.

Now for the horrifying truth -- for a long time, probably since I was a child,
I have been eating this particular soup...um...well...honestly? Out of a can.
(Gasp!) No, not out of the can, exactly. I our it into a pot on the stove,
add some pepper, heat thoroughly and then pour into a bowl and indulge in
front of the television, usually with a grilled cheese sandwich on the
side. Junk food, junk television...for some reason or another, this has
always been a comforting combination to me. Until now, that is. Now I'm officially spoiled and the canned "crap" is not going to heal my feverish head or clear my stuffy nose any longer.

This past weekend I decided to make a batch of seafood chowder. I was
lazing around, watching the Food Network (as usual when I have nothing to do) and although she might be one of my least favourite foodies, Rachel Ray was making one of her famous 30-minute meals...a big pot of crab and corn chowder. Hmmmm. I thought to myself, "Self: why not make this for dinner tonight? You have all the ingredients...and, honestly, how bad can it be? It's soup. With cream. It has to be good, right?!?" Then I sat there for a few more minutes and thought about it some more. My tummy grumbled and I got up. Yep, I was going to make it.

It wasn't as though I had never made soup before...or chowder even, for that matter. I had made a delicious batch of Manhattan-sytle clam chowder almost two years ago that had been absolutely delicious...and about seven years ago (!) I had industriously made a pot of lobster bisque that had turned out to be quite scrumptious. So off I went to the kitchen, toting Ms. Ray's recipe in one hand and my own love of seafood chowder in the other, while S. perched on the couch in the living room, continuously asking "is it done yet" every few minutes.

Well, true to Rachel Ray's style, the soup took little time and very little
effort to prepare. We sat down, and after dotting the top with some
Tobasco, indulged. Hmmm. Not bad broth, if a little mild. Another spoonful -- this time with potato. Hmmmm. The potato was a bit crunchy -- not cooked nearly enough. I asked S. if he wanted me to put the soup back on for a while and then eat dinner later. We were both kind of tired and the consensus was to eat the soup, hard potatoes or not. It was hardly what I would call enjoyable...and then we both remembered something at the same time: Rachel Ray's mantra is "30-minute meals"! Ah-ha! She never cooks anything long enough (why we both don't
really like her recipes)! By then we had finished at least half a bowl of
the hard potatoes in creamy, almost tasteless broth and were full (we had
those delicious tomato tarts on the side), so I just put the soup in the
fridge, vowing to have it for dinner the following night.

Fast-forward to Sunday night: I cooked the soup for a while on the stove,
bringing it to the boil and then letting it simmer for about forty-five
minutes, adding a little cornstarch as well. I procured myself a bowl, sat
down and had a spoonful: creamy. Another spoonful: full-bodied. Another
spoonful, more rapidly this time: delicious. I actually had two bowlfuls
and had a few extra spoonfuls right from the pot. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!

This delicious Crab and Corn Chowder is my new medication in a pot. Of course next time I get sick and start craving it, someone else is going to have to make it for me!