Corn Chowder

What could be more satisfying than a hearty bowl of corn chowder? Corn chowder is an American soup with recipes for it dating back to the 1800’s. It’s delicious made with fresh corn kernels when corn is in season. But when corn isn’t in season, you can still turn out a delicious pot using canned corn.

I started adding carrots to my corn chowder just as a way to sneak more veggies into my kids’ diets, but you could omit the carrots if you prefer. Sometimes I leave them out (as pictured below) and the soup still turns out fabulous.

CORN CHOWDER

• 8 slices of bacon, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 celery rib, thinly sliced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 5 cups canned chicken broth
• 1-1½ lbs. yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 8 ears of corn, kernels removed (about 6 cups fresh corn kernels)
• 1 pint (2 cups) half-and-half or milk
• 2 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper

1. Cook bacon in a large heavy stock pot over moderate heat until crisp.
2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Set aside.
3. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease from pot, then add garlic, onion, celery, and carrots.
4. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion becomes translucent.
5. Add broth, potatoes, and thyme and simmer, covered, until potatoes are just tender.
6. Stir in corn kernels, half-and-half, salt, and pepper.
7. Simmer, uncovered, about 10-12 minutes.
8. Remove sprigs of thyme before serving and garnish with crispy bacon.

NOTE:  If corn is not in season, lessen the chicken broth to 3 cups and replace the fresh corn with 2 cans whole kernel corn, undrained, plus 2 cans cream-style corn.

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