Cold Day Corn Chowder Recipes

COLD-DAY CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
• Drain or spoon off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat in the pot. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables just begin to become tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the flour, thyme and bay leaves. Stir the flour into the vegetables to make a paste and coat them evenly. Cook a minute or two to get rid of the raw flour flavor. Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, 15 minutes.
• Uncover the pot and add the potato, half-and-half and all but 1/2 cup of the corn. Simmer, uncovered, until the potato is very tender but not yet falling apart, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the reserved ½ cup corn and cook, stirring, until warmed through, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Discard the bay leaves from the soup. Puree about 1 cup of the soup in a food processor or blender and stir it back into the soup. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the cooked bacon and buttered corn kernels.

FRESH SUMMER CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Remove corn kernels from cobs and place in a bowl. Scrape 'milk' from cobs into bowl with the kernels. Reserve 1 cob.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, scallions, and garlic; cook until soft but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add corn kernels, corn milk, potatoes, and jalapeno. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add milk, broth, and reserved cob. Simmer until potatoes are completely soft and soup is slightly thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard cob.
• Season chowder with cilantro and pepper and serve.

CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Add the bacon to the bottom of a large heavy soup pot set over medium heat. Stir until the bacon is crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon. Add the butter and once melted, toss in the garlic, celery, carrots and onions, and saute until nice and tender, about 6 minutes. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, and sprinkle in the flour and stir until light colored and pasty, another 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, and then stir in the corn, potatoes and thyme, and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes and corn kernels until just tender, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
• Pour in the milk and simmer for 20 minutes more. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly before serving.

BASIC CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Shuck corn, and use a paring knife to strip kernels into a bowl. Put cobs in a pot with 4 cups water; bring to a boil, cover and simmer while you continue.
• Put butter or oil in a saucepan, and turn heat to medium-high. When butter melts or oil is hot, add onion and potatoes, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 5 minutes; add tomatoes and cook, stirring, for another minute or two.
• After corncobs have cooked at least 10 minutes, strain liquid into onion-potato mixture; bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. When potatoes are tender, add corn kernels and milk, and heat through. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Garnish with the parsley, and serve.

SUMMER CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Heat olive oil and butter in a Dutch oven over low heat. Add onion; cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle flour over onion; cook and stir until onion is coated, about 5 minutes.
• Stir vegetable broth and potatoes into the onion mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook partially covered until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Add corn, red pepper, green pepper, half-and-half, ground black pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir until corn is softened, about 8 minutes.