Summer Corn Chowder

Another new recipe chock full o'veggies (and yet negated by copious amounts of bacon and cream), this time from the foodie blog,  Food52. Food52 is a pseudo-fancy schmancy blog with oftentimes highbrow recipes and ingredients (blood oranges or swordfish anyone?), but they do have a cool weekly reader challenge where they give one ingredient, readers submit their recipes featuring said ingredient, and a winner is chosen based on reader's votes. This corn chowder recipe was one of those lauded winners.

I'm not going to lie to you - this recipe takes flippin' forever. I made it on a weekday when I got home from work at 6pm, and it wasn't ready until almost 9pm. I was starving and thiiiis close to eating my arm but reconsidered - I didn't think a gnawed limb would look very cute in my new Forever 21 dress. 

So with that in mind, leave this recipe for a boring Sunday. It is pretty delicious but labor-intensive. Lots of chopping and such. It has creamy, sweet tones from the corn and then a little spicy kick from the peppers. I'm a spicy food wimp (revoke my Brown People card ASAP!), and I thought the spice was perfect and not too over the top. Two thumbs up!

My one tip: make sure the potatoes are chopped into small pieces...like smaller than potato salad pieces. One inch square-ish. Otherwise you will be standing around the kitchen waiting for those stupid potato chunks to cook for like an hour, and lack of patience + Rachel the Monster is hungry = HOT MESS.

See! Chock full o'veggies! (And bacon. Cough.)

I wonder how many times I will be forced against my will as a healthy-vegan-gluten-free eater to cook bacon. 


Today is Opposite Day.

Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Drain off some (not all - that will just be our little secret) of the bacon drippings, and throw in the onions to brown.

Then add the celery and peppers.

Now dump in everything else other than the cream, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Then add the milk, cream, and pepper and heat through.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with the fairy dust of foods.

Summer Corn Chowder

6 medium ears of corn

6 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 small onion

1 medium poblano, finely chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 small celery rib, finely chopped

3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

2 medium boiling potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Pinch of sugar

1 small bay leaf

2 cups light cream, at room temperature

1 cup milk

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped parsley, for garnish

Working over a bowl, cut the corn kernels from the cobs at about half their depth. Then, using the back of the knife, scrape the cobs over the bowl to release all the "milk"; set aside.

In a large saucepan, fry the bacon over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Crumble and reserve.

Discard all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from the pan. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the poblano pepper, jalapeño and celery and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, salt, allspice, sugar, bay leaf and the reserved corn kernels and their "milk" and stir well. Cook over moderate heat until mixture begins to sizzle.

Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Stir in the cream and milk and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and season with black pepper to taste. Ladle the chowder into bowls and garnish with the crumbled bacon and parsley.