Sunday dinner....chowder

 

It's another really cold day here in the country and so it seemed like the perfect day to prepare a chowder for our Sunday Dinner.  I already had chicken broth in the frig reserved from a baked chicken.  I used the bones left over and made broth with them.  I had a little bacon that would not make a breakfast meal, so that was used up.  Isn't it interesting that so often a soup is made from the remains of another meal, and yet it is one of the most comforting foods of the home?  Homemade is surely the best and is really no trick to prepare.  The ingredients here can be changed up according to your tastes or according to what you find in your refrigerator.  I think some white beans would have been a nice addition.

This creamy corn chowder can be made in about a half hour, but could also be slow-cooked in a crock pot.

Creamy Corn Chowder

6 slices bacon, chopped or snipped with scissors

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped (or any other color)

4-5 large potatoes, chopped into small chunks

1 lb. whole kernel corn (off the cob or frozen)

1/2 c. celery, chopped (or 1/2 t. celery seed)

1 T chopped garlic

1 medium zucchini, chopped (opt)

1 bay leaf

1 t. smoked paprika (or plain)

1 t. thyme (fresh or 1/2 t. ground)

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 qt. chicken broth

1/4 c. flour

1 c. milk

1/2 c. cream (or half and half)

chopped parsley, fresh or dried

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

croutons to pass

In a soup pot, fry the bacon until crispy.  Remove from pan and set aside to drain on paper towel.  In the drippings, saute the onion, pepper, potatoes, celery, zucchini.  When onions are tender, add in the garlic, paprika, red peppers, thyme and bay leaf.  Saute another minute or two.  Add corn.  Sprinkle flour into the pot and stir for about a minute.  Add chicken broth and bring up to the boil.  Turn heat to low and simmer about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Lastly, add milk and cream and heat through. Add bacon back to the chowder at the end of cooking. Taste and season with S&P.  

Pass croutons at the table.

Serves 4-5 generously.

*If you were to make this in the crock pot, add everything to the pot except the cooked bacon, milk and cream.  Cook on low several hours or until potatoes are tender.  Add milk and cream an hour before serving, turn crock pot to high and heat through.  Add cooked bacon and serve.

“Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living.  For soup can do more to lift the spirits and stimulate the appetite than any other one dish.”
Louis P. De Gouy, The Soup Book (1949)