It’s Sunday afternoon and I have a busy, busy day planned in the kitchen.  The last day before we return to work after a nearly two-week “vacation” and psychologically I’m bummed.  Where did the time go?  Maybe I spent too much of it playing Guitar Hero World Tour with DH and the kids ;-)  Anyway, I made this soup this afternoon and it turned out so tasty, so amazingly good, that I just had to rush and post it so that I could share it with all of you.  It’s something great for a cold wintery day… a nice thick, rich, chowder.  Paired with some crusty bread… or better yet in a bread bowl… and you’ve got yourself quite a meal.

I love soups of all varieties but sadly my DH, not so much. Poor thing just didn’t grow up eating soup so his palate is rather limited in this area – but it’s expanding! His favorites are baked potato soup and beer cheese soup.  Oh, and did I mention he loves corn?  I tell ya the man could live off potatoes and corn if he had to.

For a couple of weeks now I’ve been wanting to make him a nice hearty baked potato soup.  I looked at so many different recipes my head started spinning… and then invariably I’d get preoccupied with other things. Today I figured it was the last chance before I head back to work so I started this around noon assuming it would probably take a while to cook the potatoes and simmer the soup itself. Oh contraire!  This came together in just about an hour!  Instead of having a hearty dinner, we had a hearty lunch!  My only regret was that I didn’t make a nice crusty bread to go with it.  Next time!

When I made this, I added all of the corn and all of the potatoes before using the immersion blender a second time.  In hindsight I wish I would’ve divided them and added half before and half after… that way there would’ve been a lot more chunks in the finished product.  In writing the recipe I added the instruction for half before and half after… so the texture is more chunky.  But do it however way you think you’ll like better.  

When it’s cold and wintry, it’s soup weather… make that chowder weather!

Em’s Potato-Corn Chowder

Ingredients

3 large potatoes
4 cups chicken broth – divided use
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, sliced wide
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup shredded cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 small can (11oz) whole kernel corn – divided use

Optional for garnish
Additional shredded cheese
Fresh green onions or chives
Crumbled bacon bits

Directions

Peel and cut the potatoes into small cubes.  Boil in 3 cups of chicken broth until the potatoes are fork tender Drain the potatoes reserving the broth (you’ll probably have about 1 1/2 – 2 cups left). Set both aside.  

In a large pot pour the vegetable oil and saute the onion and garlic until tender. Stir in the chicken broth reserved from cooking the potatoes, add the flour, salt, basil and pepper. Mix very well. Gradually add another cup of chicken broth, then the 1/4 cup shredded cheese and bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, add the cornstarch and stir… the cornstarch will be lumpy and that’s okay…   use an immersion blender to mix everything really really well. Add the milk, cream, half of the corn and half of the potatoes. Use the immersion blender again just for a short amount of time – about 10 seconds. Add the remaining corn and potatoes and heat through but do not bring to a boil.  

Garnish with shredded cheese, green onions, chives and bacon bits if desired. 

Have a delicious day!

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