Seafood Chowder On a Budget

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post, but I just had to brag about this amazing seafood chowder I made the other night...completely thought up in my head, then executed beautifully.
I bought a 1 pint bottle of heavy cream a while back with the intention of trying out my new fondue pot, but never got around to it. Since it was about to expire, I had to think of something to use it with and quick. Heavy cream is too beautiful and fattening to let go to waste. At first I thought of doing an alfredo, but then saw a recipe for corn chowder one day on the internets. Somehow that got me thinking of seafood chowder and I thought up this whole great recipe in my head. Once completed, I had a perfectly seasoned, deliciously bad for you chowder that I could have eaten for days, but it didn't last that long.
So here it is folks, I give you my seafood chowder recipe. Treasure it and hey, make it your own! You can throw ANYTHING into the pot!

Jenny's Seafood Chowder

1 stick of butter
1 pint of heavy cream
5-6 cups of chicken broth
1 medium onion chopped
4 ribs of celery diced
1 cup of grated or chopped carrot (I use the prepackaged kind)
1-2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
2-3 shakes of Old Bay Seasoning
1 can of clams
1 1/2 cups of shrimp, roughly chopped
1 pkg of imitation crab meat (I get the Ukrops pre-spiced kind, but you could use the real thing)
1 large potato, diced
1 cup of frozen or fresh corn kernals
1 tablespoon of corn starch
1 tablespoon of cold water

(*The key to perfect seasoning here is to season in layers as you go)

Melt butter in a dutch oven or stock pot on the stove. Add garlic, onion, celery, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 10-15 minutes. Add potato. Cook for another 10 minutes. Stir often.

Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add corn. Continue cooking at a light boil until potatoes are soft. Season with salt and pepper.

Add in heavy cream, clams, shrimp, and crab meat. Add in Old Bay. Bring back to a light boil.

In a small bowl, mix together corn starch and cold water. Add to the chowder. This should thicken it slightly. Boil for another 10 minutes or until chowder thickens slightly more and shrimp are cooked through. Taste for seasoning and add more if needed.

Serve with cornbread or oyster crackers. (I prefer the cornbread!)

This is even better the next day when reheated!

Now remember, play with your recipes! You can add or subtract anything to/from this. If you don't like clams, add oysters, or just leave them out all together. If you use oysters, you will need to cook it longer to ensure oyster doneness. You could even make this a creamy vegetable chowder instead of seafood. You could lighten it up with half and half instead of heavy cream, or use light butter (like I did). The possibilities are endless!