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!!