Hot Pot Crappie Chowder
by Vernon Summerlin
(Editor’s Note: With great sadness, we share that CrappieNOW’s resident chef, Vernon Summerlin, is retiring. Vernon has been bringing us top-notch crappie recipes for more than a decade but he’s decided it’s time to write less and hopefully fish more. For his final CrappieNOW recipe, Vernon brings us Hot Pot Crappie Chowder.)
Last October marked my 10th year with CrappieNOW. At 80 years old I’m inclined to give my computer fingers a rest, file away and donate nearly a hundred cookbooks and many, many more loose recipes and finish my last manuscript about cooking freshwater fish.
My outdoor writing career began in 1987 when Cathy encouraged me to “retire” from basic medical research to write full-time. My blessed wife said she would foot the bills for three years so I could chase my dream that had been smoldering and growing with desire since I caught my first fish at age three. That’s a lot of smoldering.
I’m at a point that my enthusiastic desires are nearly cooked to perfection – some may say I’m fried, but not true, just a little crispy. This life has been the most fun, most satisfying and life-gratifying. But now it’s time for a break. Thank you for cooking with me for the last decade!
Now that the professional pressure is off, let’s put pressure on our last crappie recipe to make a tummy pleasing chowder.
Pressure cooking became accepted more than 400 hundred years ago. The first successful pressure cooker appeared in 1679. Created by the French physicist Denis Papin, he called it Papin’s Digester. His cooker heated water in his pot to produce steam significantly higher than the maximum heat possible in an ordinary saucepan. The confined steam forces temperatures inside the pot to rise higher than 250 degrees F. Pressure cookers became popular throughout Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th century, and then all over our globe.
Now, electric pressure cookers can more accurately be called multi-cookers because they have the versatility to cook slowly, steam, sauté, fry and more. Today’s, pressure cookers are more refined and safer than the one my mother used in the 1950s. I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen when she was canning because of the stories about them blowing up. You will need to carefully follow the cautions that come with your pot’s instructions.
Search “best pressure cooker” via Google to view what’s available. Prices range from less than $100 to more than $200. Instant Pot ranked among the best tested in 2022. We have an Instant Pot on our counter and have been very happy with it. Caution: A pressure cooker can become addictive when you learn the versatility of its functions as well as the dishes available. For my last effort, let’s put the updated cooking machine to task.
Hot Pot Crappie Chowder
- 3 pounds crappie fillets
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup diced Yukon Gold potato (or 1/3 cup instant potatoes)
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 3/4 cup diced onion
- 1/8 teaspoons salt
- 1/8 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2/3 cup chicken broth or stock
- 2 tablespoons cooked and diced bacon (or 2 tablespoons butter)
- 1 1/3 cups milk
Add water, fish, potatoes, celery, onions, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chicken broth, bacon and milk to the inner pot. Lock lid into place and seal the steam nozzle. Cook on High pressure for 10 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes then release any remaining pressure. Turn on Sauté feature and add potato flakes and butter for 5 minutes or until thickened.
To keep you in pressure cooker recipes, search online in addition to the recipes that come with your cooker. Web sites offer a few gazillion recipes. Once you begin searching, I think you’ll be over whelmed by the vast varieties offered from countries around the world.
My special thanks to my longtime buddy, former CrappieNOW Editor, now Senior Writer, Tim Huffman for inviting me to produce this cooking series at the birth of CrappieNOW, years ago. And to “Crappie Dan” Dannenmueller who dreamed up this publication and made it thrive when magazine markets were plummeting. Also, to my friend and editor Capt’n Richard Simms, one of the hardest working men in the outdoor industry. You guys are particularly special to me. My deep appreciation! Vern
