Corn Chowder Worth Eating

OMG! OMG! OMG!

My Lunch Bunch colleagues found a Corn Chowder recipe worth making, and definitely, worth eating! Hallelujah! This soup is quite special, yet fairly easy to make with potatoes, roasted poblanos, and smoked Gouda.

Lynn Alley, author of 50 SIMPLE SOUPS FOR THE SLOW COOKER, has some mediocre looking recipes. This chowder is definitely not one of them.

A couple of key pieces of advice as you consider making this:

• Vanessa was good enough to do the roasting of the peppers and informed me, ” Yeah, I almost lit my oven on fire when I tried roasting them under the broiler!” So, I think you have to be really careful about carrying out the poblano portion of this operation.
• Don’t forget to add in the thyme at the beginning of the cooking.
• Don’t overcook the potatoes. Our potatoes were just perfect: four hours in the crockpot on high and they were perfect.
• Use smoked salt. I noticed that as Charlie, Curvy Mama and I ate the soup, we were reaching for the salt. I think if we’d had the smoked salt, we’d have been less inclined to add so much because of the pronounced flavor smoked salt imparts.

The Joy of Safeway's O Brand

I purchased my contributions at Safeway of all places! They have an O brand of organic products (that includes herbs, diary and other food items) that I think are just superb. They also have a fresh herbs hamper in our local store near the office that blows all other stores out of the water–fresh margoram? Check! fresh French tarragon? Check! Terrific in my book. I mean really, what food blogger gives props to Safeway!? I feel foolish telling you this, but they’ve really stepped it up a notch since all of the competition from whole food grocery chains began consuming the grocery store market.

Back to our author for a moment. Ms. Alley says, “Because corn chowder is usually made with smoked bacon, I like to add smoked salt and smoked Gouda to this soup instead. If the potatoes are organic (and I hope they are; you don’t want to know what kind of heinous fumigants are used on conventionally farmed potatoes) leave the skins on them for extra flavor and a more rustic feel.”

Well, she is 100% right. The smokey gouda replaces the bacon perfectly. I cannot believe I didn’t think to bring my smoked salt, having read this only after we polished off the several quarts of soup! At any rate, the recipe is a fairly simple one, and I encourage you to make it at work. It’s a cholesterol-rich treat  that everyone should allow themselves at one point this winter.

Corn Chowder with Potatoes, Poblanos, and Smoked Gouda

Ingredients

8 T butter or ghee

2 medium onions, chopped

2 lbs. small potatoes, sliced

2 bay leaves

8 sprigs of fresh thyme

10 c water

6 c fresh or frozen corn

4 POBLANO CHILES, ROASTED, PEELED, AND DICED

2 c half-and-half

2 c grated smoked cheddar or Gouda cheese, divided

salt (preferably smoked)

½ c grated smoked cheddar or Gouda cheese

Chopped chives, for garnishing

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Transfer the onion to a slow cooker and add the potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, and water. Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours, or until the potatoes are tender.

Mash some of the potatoes against the inside of the cooker or use a handheld immersion blender to puree a small amount of potato and thicken the soup slightly.

Add the corn, chiles, half-and-half, and 1 ½ cups of the cheddar or gouda. Add the salt to taste and continue cooking for 20 to 30 minutes, or just until all the ingredients are hot.

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each bowl with the remaining cheese and chopped chives.

Destemming the Thyme into the Crockpot for Cooking

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