Chowdah, Corn Chowdah

Let’s skip the awkward, “it’s been a while” talk.

Hi!

The hubby has been bugging me about making corn chowder for about a month now. Like, twice a day, every day, type of bugging. Here’s the thing…I don’t like chowder. I generally don’t make things that I don’t like/eat.

I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to google “easy corn chowder” and a ton of recipes appeared. I was pleasantly surprised to find that you could probably make chowder with items you already have in your pantry and fridge. After looking at about 10 recipes, I decided to create my own, despite not having a clue what I was doing. I liked the freshness of some recipes that included bell peppers and fresh corn, while I liked the ease of throwing in a can of cream of mushroom to create a thicker consistency.

Here went nothing.

Ingredients

Bacon – 6 slices

Celery – 2 stalks

Corn – 2 fresh, 1 15 oz can, drained

Bell Pepper – Half of a medium size

Onion – Half of a medium size

Potatoes – 4 medium size red

Cream of mushroom soup – 1 can

Chicken broth – 1 package, approx. 14 oz

Butter – 1 tbsp.

Salt and Pepper to taste

Water

Leftover Chicken (Optional)

Corn Starch (Optional)

I began by cutting 6 strips of bacon into small pieces. I threw them into my pot over medium heat, and as they cooked, I chopped up the onion, celery, and bell pepper into a small/medium dice. Remember to stir your bacon occasionally; you don’t want it to burn. I wanted the veggies small enough to cook quickly, but big enough so you could taste and see them in the chowder. Once the bacon was cooked, I removed them with a slotted spoon and placed the bits on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

I then added butter to the bacon fat, followed by the cut onion, celery and bell pepper. You’ll want to stir this occasionally to allow the veggies to cook and keep the stove on medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. While this is cooking, cut your potatoes. I chose a larger dice. I don’t know why. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Once your onions are translucent and the veggies appear soft, it’s time to add your chicken broth and water. [Note here: I added 4 cups of water, and my chowder remained a bit on the brothy side. In hindsight, I should have only added 2-3 cups to get a more thick, recognizable, chowder consistency] Add your potatoes, add some salt and pepper, and turn the heat to high. I wanted a low boil, to cook the potatoes half way quickly, since they’d sit in the pot for a while.

While the potatoes are cooking, cut your fresh corn. Reality is, you don’t need fresh corn, canned

corn on its own would have been fine. I thought some fresh corn would make the chowder….fresh.

Anyway, be careful when cutting corn off the cob. It will fly EVERYWHERE. Try one of those hacks with inverted bowls or a bundt pan. Otherwise, you’ll have corn all over the counter, floor, and yourself. After the potatoes have been low boiling for about 5 minutes, reduce the heat to medium/low, and add the fresh corn, canned corn, cream of mushroom soup, and half of your cooked bacon. Mix well. Taste. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. I left this on the stove on low heat for about 30 minutes. The potatoes were soft, some of the smaller pieces disintegrated, that’s ok.

Use leftover bacon to garnish the top of the soup.

Optional

 I found the consistency to be too brothy, so I made a corn starch slurry (equal parts corn starch and cold water in a bowl, stirred) and added it in and allowed it thicken up with the heat off for 10 minutes.

I had leftover chicken thighs from the previous night’s dinner, so I chopped up the meat and added it to the chowder when I added the corn and cream of mushroom soup.

End Result

I thought the flavor was good, and my husband loved it. Chowder still isn’t for me though.

This was easy enough to make, and fairly inexpensive. I estimate my total price (including chicken) to be $13, for roughly 8 huge servings. I would definitely make this again, for a chowder loving crowd.

Try it and let me know if you like it!