Summer Corn Chowder

Going to any farmer's market these days and you will find the best corn you have ever tasted!!  This is prime time for corn.  So enjoy it while the getting is good!!

I am lucky that I work at two farmer's markets and have friends that save me some of their best produce!  Life just doesn't get any better than this!!

My husband enjoyed the Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder I made a week or two ago, so I thought I would try my hand at just plain ole Corn Chowder!  So a new adventure was born (and amazingly enough I had most of the ingredients on hand!! so this was meant to be!!)

I found this recipe on the Cooking Classy website from Pinterest.  It had very high reviews, so I figured it had to be good.

Summer Corn Chowder by Cooking Classy

Ingredients

8 ears fresh corn, husked and silks removed and kernels cut from cob
3 T butter (I always use unsalted)
5 slices bacon cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 clove garlic, mined
1 medium size onion chopped
5 cups water
1 lb yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (and I actually did have these!!)
1/2 t dry thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup half and half (I just used milk as I didn't have half and half)
1 T honey
2 - 3 T chopped fresh chives (sorry, didn't have those)
shredded cheddar cheese for serving (optional)

Directions:

Melt the butter in a stock pot.  Add the chopped onions and bacon and cook, while stirring, for about 10 minutes - when the onions start to soften and brown around the edges a little.

Mix in the garlic and flour.

Using your whisk, slowly pour the water into your onion/flour mixture.

Bring to a boil while stirring constantly, add in the corn kernels and potatoes.  Add the thyme, bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring the soup to a light boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer until potatoes are tender for about 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Remove the bay leaf.  Remove 2 1/2 cups of the chowder to a blender and blend until smooth.

Stir the blended chowder back into the pot and add the half and half and honey.

Sprinkle each serving with chives and the optional cheddar cheese.

Entire Recipe:

Summer Corn Chowder by Cooking Classy

Ingredients

8 ears fresh corn, husked and silks removed and kernels cut from cob
3 T butter (I always use unsalted)
5 slices bacon cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 clove garlic, mined
1 medium size onion chopped
5 cups water
1 lb yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 t dry thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup half and half (I just used milk as I didn't have half and half)
1 T honey
2 - 3 T chopped fresh chives (sorry, didn't have those)
shredded cheddar cheese for serving (optional)

Directions:

Melt the butter in a stock pot.  Add the chopped onions and bacon and cook, while stirring, for about 10 minutes - when the onions start to soften and brown around the edges a little.

Mix in the garlic and flour.

Using your whisk, slowly pour the water into your onion/flour mixture.

Bring to a boil while stirring constantly, add in the corn kernels and potatoes.  Add the thyme, bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring the soup to a light boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer until potatoes are tender for about 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Remove the bay leaf.  Remove 2 1/2 cups of the chowder to a blender and blend until smooth.

Stir the blended chowder back into the pot and add the half and half and honey.

Sprinkle each serving with chives and the optional cheddar cheese.

ENJOY!!

VERDICT:

This was really good.  I was very surprised by this.  I had thought about substituting chicken stock for the water as I thought this would be too bland, but I only had one can of chicken stock, so I just used the water.  I love homemade soups because they are a meal in themselves and so very filling!!  So what did my resident expert think?  He loved it!  He said that he liked it even better than the Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder!  So we have another winner!!

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

 

 

Ah, Summer is upon us and we have all these wonderful vegetables available!!  Tomatoes and corn - fresh out of the fields - nothing better!!  Of course, selling at two farmer's markets gives me access to a lot of fabulous vegetables!!  This past weekend I picked up a dozen ears of the best looking corn and I wanted to do something special with it.  Viola!!  Corn Chowder!!  NOT just plain ole Corn Chowder!!! Corn Chowder WITH Sweet Potatoes - oh my!!!

 

I found the recipe for this adventure in Andrea Chesman's cookbook, Serving Up the Harvest.  I have made several recipes in her book and each one has been wonderful.  So I knew this one had to be good.  Of course, sweet potatoes aren't quite in season now, so that involved a quick run to the grocery store.

 

This is another pretty easy recipe.  The hardest part is shucking all the corn - LOL!!!   And I think the next time I make this I will buy one of those little tools that help you cut the kernels off the corn so easily. 

 

One note . . . the recipe called for a "large" sweet potato.  I found a large sweet potato in my grocery store.  When I peeled it, it was white inside - never have seen a white sweet potato - oh my, an albino sweet potato!!  It still tasted good in the soup.

 

Anyway, onto the recipe . . .

 

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

 

Ingredients:

 

8 ears of corn, husked and silked

6 cups chicken broth

2 T butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 1/2 cups milk or half-and-half

1 T sugar

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 

Cut the kernels off the corn and set aside in a separate bowl.

 

Pour the chicken broth into a large pot and add the corn cobs.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

 

Melt the butter in a large stock pot.  Add the onion and garlic (your house will smell WONDERFUL!!) and sauté for about 3 minutes

 

Add the chicken stock, corn kernels, and sweet potatoes.

 

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes.

 

Add the milk and sugar.  Season with salt and pepper.  Simmer for an additional 5 minutes. 

 

Serve hot.

 

Entire Recipe:

 

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

 

Ingredients:

 

8 ears of corn, husked and silked

6 cups chicken broth

2 T butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 1/2 cups milk or half-and-half

1 T sugar

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 

Cut the kernels off the corn and set aside in a separate bowl.

 

 

Pour the chicken broth into a large pot and add the corn cobs.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

 

 

Melt the butter in a large stock pot.  Add the onion and garlic (your house will smell WONDERFUL!!) and sauté for about 3 minutes

 

Add the chicken stock, corn kernels, and sweet potatoes.

 

 

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes.

 

Add the milk and sugar.  Season with salt and pepper.  Simmer for an additional 5 minutes. 

 

Serve hot.

 

Enjoy!!

 

Verdict:

 

Oh my, this was good.  My mistake I used 9 ears of corn because I thought the ears were small.  You definitely do not need that much corn!!  I even think 7 ears would have sufficed.  An orange sweet potato would have given the soup more color, but I don't think would have added anything to the taste.  What did my resident expert think??  He loved it!!  So I am sure I will be making this again in the near future.

 

 

 

Grilled Eggplant Steaks

Unforutnately, I didn't get pictures of this.    The next time I make this, I will.  I found this recipe in the book Forks Over Knives  by Del Sroufe (a cookbook I borrowed from the library).  My husband was saying that we needed more vegetables in our meals, so I thought I would look into a couple of the more popular vegeterian cookbooks (and if I found a couple I liked, they would definitely end up on my bookshelf).

This is another one of those really easy meals to make.  Again, the hardest part is slicing and peeling the eggplant.  The recipe calls for a large eggplant, of course I couldn't find, so I just substituted two medium sized ones instead.

Grilled Eggplant Steaks by Del Sroufe

Ingredients

3 T balsamic vinegar
2 T lemon juice
2 T soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 large eggplant (or 2 medium)

Heat up the grill
Mix together the vinegar, lemon juice and soy sauce (adding a touch of salt and pepper).
Slice and peel the eggplant.
Brush each side of the eggplant several times with the marinade
Place the eggplant on a hot grill and cook on each side for about 5 minutes while brushing with the marinade.

Verdict

I wasn't sure how this would taste as I thought the eggplant would be very bland.  OMG this was really good.  My husband LOVED it!  I served this with a small salad.  Perfect for a low cost meal that was easy to make.  Yes, I see this on our plates again in the near future.