Seafood Chowder

This is not the most low carb recipe I've ever invented, but we are kind of poor after Christmas and tried to tailor our grocery list to work around what we have in the pantry and freezer. And what I had in the pantry was canned potatoes, canned corn, and a tin of smoked mussels, an onion, minced garlic as well as a small tub of leftover mashed potatoes in the freezer. It sounded like a good start to a seafood chowder to me. It has a pretty high fat content though, so it should balance out. I'm really proud of myself that we saved those mashed potatoes and then actually used them again a couple of months later, rather than the usual scenario- pushed to the back of the freezer, then finally thrown away two years later.

The ingredients, 9 out of 13 things that we already had on hand.

The seasonings, all of which we already had.

Creamy, seafood-y goodness.

Seafood Chowder

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 T minced garlic
6 T butter, divided
2 - 14.5 oz cans of diced potatoes
1 - 11 oz can of corn
1- 8 oz bottle of clam juice
4 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes
1 lb of frozen peeled raw shrimp (small)
8 oz imitation lobster meat
small tin of smoked mussels
1/4 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 T konjac flour
Old Bay seasoning
Johnny's seasoning salt
cracked black pepper
salt

In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Peel and finely chop entire onion,  add to butter. Sautee until softened and translucent. Add minced garlic, and cook one more minute. Add drained potatoes and corn. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning, 1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir to combine. Remove from heat.

In a stock pot, combine mashed potatoes, clam juice, milk, and 1 tablespoon of Johnny's seasoning salt. Bring to a simmer. Remove 1 cup of this mixture into a bowl, and quickly stir in 2 tablespoons of konjac flour. Stir rapidly to remove lumps. Add mixture back into stock pot. Add vegetable mixture from skillet to stock pot of liquids.

In the skillet, spray with oil, then add frozen shrimp. The shrimp will quickly release a lot of water and juice. Scoop that liquid off, and add to the stock pot. Sprinkle shrimp with 2 teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning, and cook until pink. Add lobster meat and stir to combine. Add seafood mixture to stock pot, along with 1 teaspoon each of salt, Johnny's, and Old Bay. Stir in mussels, the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, and heavy cream.

Serve topped with freshly ground pepper. Makes 6 large portions that are very filling, thanks to the magic of konjac flour.