Frozen Dinner Swap: Crawfish & Corn Chowder

Following today's post, there are only two more recipes left in the Frozen Dinner Swap series. I've got a few more recipes up my sleeve, so I think my next recipe series will focus on Best Dishes -- what I consider to be the best recipes from my kitchen. That may be a very short collection of posts!

This weekend, as part of my Cooking Extravaganza, I prepared my sister-in-law Ashley's Crawfish & Corn Chowder. In other parts of the country, chowder is all about clams. They also pronounce it "chowda." Every fiber of my being disagrees. Us Southern girls prefer a spicier version loaded with crawfish (or shrimp).

We love crustaceans below the Mason-Dixon. And as kids, we can sometimes fish them out of the drainage ditch near our homes after it's rained a lot. Can you do that with a clam? I didn't think so.

{That's Ashley on the left. We love each other. And scarves. That's Casey in the middle. We love her too. I'm not sure how she feels about scarves.}

Ashley is a great cook. Her food is always delicious, and the recipes are easy to follow. Ty and I will be having this for dinner tonight with Mama Mia's garlic bread (your taste buds will do laps in all that butter! Which is essential to offset the soup's spicy heat). It's such a cozy, easy weeknight meal.

Crawfish (or Shrimp) & Corn Chowder

1/4 cup butter
2 pounds frozen crawfish or shrimp, cleaned
2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed cream of potato soup
1 (10.75 oz) can cram of mushroom soup
2 (15.25 oz) cans whole kernel corn, drained
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon liquid crab boil

• Melt butter and saute the crawfish or shrimp for 5 minutes and set aside (Note: The crawfish will render a lot of liquid. No worries and no need to drain them. Juices = Good).
• In a large pot over medium heat, combine potato soup, mushroom soup, corn and cream cheese. Mix well and bring to a slow boil.
• Stir in half-and-half and crawfish. Season with cayenne pepper and crab boil.
• Bring to low boil and simmer for 15 minutes to blend flavors.