Like much of America it seems (and certainly all of Maine), I've recently been completely charmed by Erin French of The Lost Kitchen. After discovering her TV show lying dormant in my on-demand queue, I scarfed down almost two seasons in two weeks, reveling in the romance of true farm-to-table food and dreaming with my husband about moving to the country and cooking for whoever will come. On the show, the soup course always features heavily in the story arc, and one such starring soup simply wouldn't leave my head after the episode was over. Celery soup with crab—it sounded so simple, so delicious, so unlike anything I'd had before. It sounded so perfectly obvious.

And so, when I found myself at the market next, I scooped up a bunch of celery and a beautiful Dungeness crab and set off for the stove. I kept the flavors simple and the technique classic: cook aromatics in butter, deglaze with white wine, fortify with heavy cream. A soup so easy to make doesn't really have any business being this delicious. Freshly picked crab and hearty sourdough croutons are a welcome addition but they're certainly not needed to make this soup sing.

---

Ingredients

1 Dungeness crab, cooked, cleaned and picked
1 bunch celery, leaves reserved
1 yellow onion
2 Yukon gold potatoes
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
3 sprigs thyme
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 qt chicken stock
salt and pepper

For the croutons:
2 thick slices of sourdough bread
2 Tbsp olive oil
flaky salt

Directions

If making croutons, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Add the butter and olive oil to a small stock pot over medium heat. Roughly chop the celery (reserve the leaves for garnish), onion and potatoes and add them to the melted butter and oil.

Peel and casually crush the garlic. Add it to the pot along with the crushed red pepper flakes and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and celery have released their moisture and the bottom of the pot has started to collect browned bits, about 10 minutes.

Add the white wine and stir, scraping up all the browned bits. After the wine has almost completely evaporated, add 1 teaspoon of salt, thyme springs and chicken stock.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the celery has softened and the potatoes are almost falling apart, about 10 minutes.

While the soup cooks, make the croutons. Slice or tear the bread into 1" cubes, then toss well with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 7 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned, then toss and bake for another 7 minutes. Season with flaky salt while warm.

When the potatoes are tender, remove the woody thyme stems from the soup and turn off the heat. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream and taste for seasoning. Add more salt if needed.

Garnish with crab, celery leaves and sourdough croutons.