pretty much my mother-in-law's corn chowder
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I loved corn chowder as a kid. My mom made it with canned cream corn, potatoes, bacon, celery and onions. It didn't look good, but it still one of my favorite meals from 'small kid time.'
My older self tried making this for the family and got no love. Whatsoever. Apparently the family does not love canned creamed corn the way I remembered it. Plus, mother did tell me that she only made this on desperation days. Undaunted, I set out to make an easy and family-palatable version. Thanks to my mother-in-law, Tyler Florence, I'm honing in on a good one that is family-approved |
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Drizzle of olive oil
Half a package of bacon, about 4-6 slides, cut about 1/2" rectangles 1 onion, diced About 1-2t of thyme 1-2T flour 1 jar of clam juice 1 carton of low-sodium chicken broth |
3-4 red potatoes, skin on and cubed into about 1/2" pieces
1 can of corn or 3-4 ears of fresh corn Hawaiian salt Fresh cracked pepper 1 pint of half-and-half 3 shakes of Worcestershire sauce 2T of cornstartch dissolved into 3T water |
Drizzle olive oil into a dutch oven or other large pot. When add bacon pieces and cook until crispy. Take out of pot and drain on paper towels. Sop up most of the bacon fat with another paper towel, but leave a little bit for the onions to cook. Add onions and cook until soft and transparent. Add thyme and flour so that it is well coated.
Add clam juice, chicken broth and potatoes. Cover and simmer for about 7-10 minutes or until the potatoes are almost cooked. Add corn, including the liquid if you are using canned corn and half-and-half. Bring to a slow boil. Season with salt, pepper. Add 2-3 shakes of Worcestershire sauce, to your taste. When it is boiling, add cornstarch/water mixture to thicken. Stir constantly while you do this, or it will get gummy and gross.
NOTES:
1) The reason you add olive oil to the pan before cooking the bacon is so that you don't brown the bottom of the pan. If this happens, the corn chowder will eventually turn a weird dark beige color. While it will still taste good, it will look like wallpaper paste.
2) Tried using tumeric as per the Barefoot Contessa, but this doesn't add taste so much as color. I also did not add cheese or butter.
3) The current recipe is pretty close to one from Tyler Florence, but doesn't use garlic or vegetable stock.
4) Worcestershire at the end gives it a good kick.
Add clam juice, chicken broth and potatoes. Cover and simmer for about 7-10 minutes or until the potatoes are almost cooked. Add corn, including the liquid if you are using canned corn and half-and-half. Bring to a slow boil. Season with salt, pepper. Add 2-3 shakes of Worcestershire sauce, to your taste. When it is boiling, add cornstarch/water mixture to thicken. Stir constantly while you do this, or it will get gummy and gross.
NOTES:
1) The reason you add olive oil to the pan before cooking the bacon is so that you don't brown the bottom of the pan. If this happens, the corn chowder will eventually turn a weird dark beige color. While it will still taste good, it will look like wallpaper paste.
2) Tried using tumeric as per the Barefoot Contessa, but this doesn't add taste so much as color. I also did not add cheese or butter.
3) The current recipe is pretty close to one from Tyler Florence, but doesn't use garlic or vegetable stock.
4) Worcestershire at the end gives it a good kick.
