Family Favorite Corn Chowders, Basic, Or Made More Interesting!!
Corn chowder has been around in our family for years..It was my father's fav soup and is my husbands, and several kids growing up, and some not....I have made simple basic corn chowder, and my favorite has always been if possible, made with fresh cooked cut off the cob sweet summer corn... it is simple and makes a big difference in flavor...I cook the corn for 8 minutes, cut off the cob and scrape down the cob with my knife for the corn milk, use immediately, or put in containers and freeze.. I also, of course, use frozen store bought corn, never canned..just a matter of preference...
My basic recipe runs parallel to my fish chowder, except substituting corn in place of the fish, and omitting the carrots, and celery leaves, and adding precooked bacon lardons. the recipe and another version I make is below.
Lets talk bacon here for a minute...when I get a package of bacon I immediately cook 3/4 as bacon, and the other 1/4 of package into what I call lardons, I make these by cutting the slices stacked one on top of the other, cut in about 1/4 inch wide strips and precook, these I add to chowders, use as bacon bits on salads or baked potatoes, or in casseroles, meat loafs and such....bacon keeps cooked in the fridge for quite a while, am guessing will not last long enuf to ever spoil, and saves time when you are in a rush...you can also partially cook if you plan on using in a recipe that will call for long cooking times...
3 diced potatoes, once again, russets not recommended..
1 onion, diced
Fresh or frozen corn, my own, 1 1/2 cups or 1 box frozen
Black pepper to taste, about a teaspoon of dried thyme, or to taste
Precooked bacon lardons (pieces) about 1/3 cup, or amount of choice
Simmer all but the precooked bacon, in little water just to cover until potatoes and onions are done and corn is cooked about 8-10 minutes, depending on size of pieces...
Add milk of choice, in amount of choice, will depend on how much you want a chowder or a soup, the bacon lardons and a pat of butter...bring almost to a boil, never boil milk based soups...serve...this keeps several days, and is better as always the next days...
Another corn chowder recipe(pictured here): added to basic, minus bacon, add in diced red peppers and diced sauteed ham.
Make basic recipe but also add in 1/2 cup diced red pepper, or amount of choice when simmering the veggies, or can sautee right in with the ham...
In the meantime dice up about a cup of ham, or amount of choice.. sautee a few minutes to crunch up a little...When adding milk, this time add in the diced ham in place of the bacon lardons, continue with the pat of butter and heat, and serve.....as in all my recipes, salt as needed..
Both of these are hits with my corn chowder lovers, hope they will be with your corn chowder fans....
