Sunday Soup #100: Creamy Seafood Soup (& SOUP SWAP!!)

#100!! That is a milestone, so I wanted to do something a little special for this one...

This past weekend, I hosted my first-ever Souper Sleuth Soup Swap, and it was a lot of fun! Six of my soup-loving friends made some of their favorite recipes and, along with their +1s, came over to our house to share their soups with the rest of us. Some of the great soups people prepared included a Creamy Chicken Soup (made by Christy), an Italian Sausage Soup (my contribution), a Pork & Beans Soup (with a slow-smoked pork shoulder; made by Bill), a Whole30 Chicken Chowder (made by Aimee), a Paleo Chicken Pot Pie Soup (made by Lisa), a Carrot Ginger Soup (which was delightfully spicy; made by Whitney), and a Creamy Seafood Soup (which I'll share with you in this post; made by Sam).

Everyone talked about their soups and gave us a little taste, allowing us to score and pick our favorites. Then we all swapped our recipes around, and everyone went home with five different quarts of homemade soup. It was a win-win-win!! (*The only fail was on my part, as I was so caught up in the fun that I completely forgot to take any pictures - except for the picture below of Becky's snazzy letterboard sign.)

The soup that was best-reviewed by all of our diners was a Creamy Seafood Soup, made by Sam Yip, scoring 4.5 out of 5 stars overall. So, for my 100th soup of this project, I think it is only fitting to share Sammy's recipe with you.

Sam's recipe is a variation of a Creamy Seafood Chowder recipe found at https://www.spendwithpennies.com/creamy-seafood-chowder/ (pictured below), and incorporated some different seafood variations that were super yummy! Sam added that, "This seafood soup is a delicious, creamy soup filled with shrimp, clam, calamari, crab meat, and fish. You can add additional seafood, like scallops, clams, and/or mussels in shell (cleaned)."

Pic 1 - https://www.spendwithpennies.com/creamy-seafood-chowder/

Sam's Version of the Recipe:

1/4 cup butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 cup flour
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1/2 cup corn
5 cups broth (seafood or chicken)
1/2 cup white wine
8oz white fish (e.g., cod, salmon, tilapia, haddock)
8 oz calamari, sliced
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 oz crab meat
6.5 oz canned chopped clams, drained
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp parsley

1. Cook onion in butter until tender. Add flour, Old Bay seasoning, and thyme and cook 2-3 minutes.

2. Add carrot, celery, corn, broth, and wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes.

3.  Stir in seafood and cream. Cook until fish is fully cooked and flaky (about 8-10 minutes).

4. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

General Thoughts: This soup was very tasty! It was creamy and hearty, each bite chock full of different tastes and textures, which was a joy. The proteins were the real star, and the seafood flavor was excellent. It can sometimes be difficult to balance the cooking of a mixed-seafood soup, as shellfish can become rubbery and whitefish can become mushy if the chef does not find the right balance of heat and cooking time. However, Sam managed it perfectly in this recipe, and each individual protein was perfectly done.

Potential Improvements? This one was REALLY good already but, if I make it, I might try swapping out the calamari for scallops (true to my personal tastes). And, I'd love to see what it tastes like with a small shot of cooking sherry added to each bowl.

Polling the Fam: This was a 5-star soup for me, all the way. There were a lot of diners at the Soup Swap (obviously), and I did not parse their individual comments. But, this one was universally enjoyed by everyone who likes seafood, earning an average score of 4.5 out of 5 stars overall. I also ate it leftover, and it was still great!

Verdict: Loved it! (5 stars)