Corn Chowder

Corn chowder is a great soup to make in that transition time from summer into the fall.  The corn flavors are reminiscent of summer and the warm potatoes remind you that cool days are coming.  This recipe is easy and everything I used was local - from my garden, from a friend's garden and from a farm stand.  If you like the sweetness of corn and the flavors of a potato soup, make this soup.  To make this soup vegetarian, omit the bacon and add 1 TBS olive oil where the bacon fat is used to saute the onions.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 strip of bacon

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped

1/2 large carrot, chopped

3 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed from the cobs, cobs reserved

1 bay leaf

3 1/2 cups milk, any kind except skim

1 medium Yukon Gold potato, or Russet, peeled and diced

1 TBS Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Here's how:

In a soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat.

Add the bacon strip and fry until the bacon renders its fat, but doesn't begin to brown, 3 or 4 minutes.

Bacon in with the butter. I made a double batch.

Add the onion and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft.

Chopped onion

Onion added to bacon and butter

Add the carrot and cook for 5 minutes.

Cut carrots

 

Carrots added

Add the corn cobs the soup pot.

Cobs added

Add the milk and bay leaf.

Bay leaf and milk added.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes on a gentle simmer. Be careful not to burn the milk on the bottom of the pot.

Remove the cobs, the bacon strip, and the bay leaf. Raise the heat, add the potatoes, 1 Tablespoon of salt, and fresh ground pepper to taste. 

Cobs out, seasoning in.

Potatoes cut up

Potatoes in

Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost fork tender.

Raise the heat, add the corn kernels and the thyme.

Corn and thyme in

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Place half of the soup in a blender or food processor.  Add it back to the pot.  Stir and serve.

Soup is done.  It gets thick from pureeing half of it