Warm, homemade wheat bread with butter and jam.

Seastar Chef, John Howie’s Crab and Corn Bisque.

Apple crisp, served with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Yep, it’s fall.

A friend from work saw my Facebook post about what we were having for dinner and requested the crab and corn bisque recipe. Chef John Howie came to ccok for us at church a few months ago. He shared this recipe and IT WAS AMAZING. Here it is:

1/2 pound butter, salted
1/2 cup onion-white, mined fine
2 TBSP shallots- minced fine
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup corn kernels – fresh
1 cup clam juice
1/2 tsp thyme – dried
2 quarts half and half
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp sea salt.
12 oz crab meat

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Add onions and shallots and saute until semi-translucent.

Add the flour to make a roux, stirring constantly.

De-Glaze with sherry, add half and half to roux stirring constantly.

Bring to a simmer stirring constantly.

Place clam juice and corn into a blender until pureed. Add to the sauce bot and simmer.

Lower head and add thyme, salt, and pepper.

Add crab.

***I added diced potatoes to the recipe. My kids love homemade clam chowder, especially the potatoes. I diced four white potatoes and boiled them until soft. Then I added the potatoes at the same time I added the crab. I also used fresh thyme because I had it growing in my garden. I think if I made it again, I would only use one stick of butter, add more flour to the roux, and OBVIOUSLY add more crab. You can NEVER have enough crab. I thought the whole puree of corn and clam juice was freaky, but I just followed the recipe John Howie gave me. It was really good! The whole family loved it. Making bread, soup, and dessert (all from scratch) for my family brings such joy to my weekends!***