Corn and Potato Chowder

I realize now that this isn't the most appetizing looking photo. Don't worry, I wouldn't lead you astray

The windchill this past Sunday hit 9 degrees.  I think I can take some credit for the winter chill.  About 4 days prior to the single digit temps I suggested to my wife that perhaps over the weekend I could cook up a batch of Corn and Potato Chowder.  I think had I said “I’d like to drink a mojito on the patio this weekend” we’d be sitting outdoors in our shorts and playing Jimmy Buffet on the iPod because it would turned out to be a 70 degree day.  But since I can only handle about one Buffet song at a time before I want to stuff a pencil in my ear I said “it’s soup season” rather than “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!”  Like most chowders, this is a great cold weather meal.

Some of the fixins'. Potatoes, carrots, parsley, 2 tbps cocaine

I’ve made this soup about 4 or 5 times previously.  It’s pretty much the same ingredients from a Dinosaur BBQ recipe with some minor changes plus the fact that I don’t measure my ingredients so the proportions are of my own creation.  The first time I made this soup I was in the kitchen for a solid hour working my butt off getting everything prepped and cooked.  I wasn’t very happy with the ratio of time spent working to time spent eating the finished product.  So each year I kind of dread making it but I push through the pain because I do really enjoy the soup.  One of the real benefits of being married is that you get to share everything.  So I shared as much of the prep work as possible.  My wife chopped up the onion, pepper and parsley, minced the garlic and grated the carrots.  Oh, I almost forgot – she also did the grocery shopping.  So right away my time from start to finish dropped dramatically.  While she was doing all of that I very slowly poured a Murphy’s Irish Stout into a Tervis Tumbler.  Man do I love watching an Irish stout cascade down the inside of a glass when it’s poured correctly!

Regrettably I digress…

Bacon cooked in butter = what Heaven tastes like

The second part of cutting down on prep time was to not measure anything.  But since it’s hard to describe “put some peppers in it” on a blog, and be of any help to anyone who might wish to try this, I’m going to copy & paste the actual recipe and then edit it until I think it’s about what led me to my finished product.

After posting that photo of bacon cooked in butter I feel obligated to post a photo of some vegetables. But then again, look at the photo above.... IT'S BACON COOKED IN BUTTER!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 tablespoon butter
• slices of thick cut bacon, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped into fine pieces
• 1 small/medium green pepper, chopped info fine pieces
• salt and black pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups chicken broth or stock
• 4 russet potatoes, diced
• 4 carrots, shredded (or diced into fine pieces)
• 1/2 to 3/4 bag frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup half-and-half
• dried thyme, to taste
• **pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

Melt the butter in a soup kettle or large pan over medium-high heat.  Don’t burn the butter.  Add the bacon (already diced) and cook till crisp. Scoop out the bacon and drain on paper towels.  Set aside.

Pour off all but 1/4 of  the fat from the pot. Toss in the onions and peppers, seasoning them with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook till soft and then throw in the garlic, cooking it all for 1 minute more. Sprinkle on the flour and mix into the veggies. Dump in the broth and potatoes. Cover the pot and bring to a boil; then lower the heat and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or till the potatoes are tender. Add the shredded carrots and corn. Cover and simmer everything 5 to 6 minutes longer to blend the flavors.

Stir in the half-and-half. Season with the thyme, **cayenne, some more salt, and lots of freshly ground black pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and the bacon bits you’ve been saving. Give it one last stir.

Lessons learned:

1. Having my wife do 80% of the prep work really makes cooking go a lot faster.
2. Bacon cooked in butter is a gift given to us from Heaven.
   1. I end up eating a lot of bacon between the time it is cooked and the time I add it to the soup.  Be warned in case you need to plan ahead and cook some extra bacon for snacking purposes.
3. Get some hearty bread for dipping into the soup.

** = I skip the cayenne pepper and replace it with a healthy sprinkling of my highly classified homemade barbecue dry rub.  But I would say definitely add cayenne if you want to add some bite to this soup.