Potato Corn Chowder

Potato Corn Chowder

After I finished washing windows Tuesday, I thought it was a good day for comfort food. Despite a beautiful warm day filled with sunshine, the thought of a bowl of chowder seemed most satisfying. I have a practice to use something daily from my well stocked freezer. Being a Costco shopper, heaven knows those super-sizes aren't always a consumable size for two people leaving left-overs to be placed in the freezer.

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I found a recipe but tweaked it to fit the ingredients on hand. I reduced the amount of heavy cream and used frozen corn rather than ears of corn. I will share the recipe as I prepared my pot of chowder.

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Ingredients:

1 lb. bag of frozen sweet corn

2 quarts water

1 pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (2 1/4 cups)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large carrot, halved lengthwise, then sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 thyme sprigs

2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California

2 cups heavy cream

3 scallions, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

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Directions:

Bring potatoes to a boil in water in a large pot with 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

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Meanwhile, cook onion, carrot, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is pale golden, about 10 minutes.

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Add bell pepper, corn, thyme, and bay leaves. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.

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Stir in potatoes with water and cream and gently boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 7 cups, about 30 minutes. Stir in scallions, white pepper, cayenne, and salt to taste. Discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs.