Corn Chowder

Last year right after Christmas we went to Santa's Village in Sky Forest Ca. We hadn't been since we were children and it had recently reopened. The day was absolutely magical and so very, very cold. After walking around for hours we looked at what they had for lunch and my sister decided to get the Corn Chowder.  I tried a bite and it was absolutely amazing. After we ate it even began to snow it was such a great experience.


After getting home I kept thinking about that corn chowder. I had to eat this food again.  So I decided to figure out how to make it at home.

I made this the first time in mid January and it was awesome. I thought I wrote the recipe down but for the life of me I can't find it. My boyfriend was talking about how he likes soup and I suddenly had to make this again so I've remembered what I can of the recipe and made it my own. I also had two ears of corn I needed to use.

I like to use a mix of frozen and fresh corn because to be honest I'm lazy and I don't want to take that much corn off the cob. I'm working to make smarter food choices and hopefully lose a few pounds so instead of heavy cream this soup is thickened with a white sauce , and cornstarch and lots of simmering.

Ingredients 

1 bag frozen corn
2 ears fresh corn
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 1/2 cup water
1-2 carrots diced
1-2 celery  stalks diced
1/2 large onion diced
2 cloves garlic
3 small russet potatoes
salt
pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
Italian seasoning
turmeric
1 large chicken breast
2 heaping tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups milk

Tools
large pot
frying pan
blender
whisk
wooden spoon

Take a small amount of oil or butter and grease the pot then add the vegetables and a half teaspoon of salt cook over medium low heat until onions are translucent and they have softened. Add 1/4 teaspoon each of pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning.  (Adjust to taste I usually do do a light sprinkle across the top of the entire pan and call it a day. The salt I keep in a jar and pinch two fingers worth out)

While vegetables are cooking take the frozen corn, garlic cloves and water and place in blender puree until smooth. Add the corn slurry to the vegetable mixture. Reserve 1/2 cup of the chicken broth in a separate container. Add remaining chicken broth to vegetable mixture in pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

Add cornstarch to reserved chicken broth and beat smooth with a whisk add to soup. Stir in completely.

Take the corn off the cob by slicing lengthwise down the cob to remove the kernels, add kernels to soup. Let this simmer you can get away with as little as 30 minutes but if you have a few hours just let it kick it on the stove its only going to get better the longer you let it cook.

About an hour before you're ready to eat peel and dice the potatoes and add to soup. Cut raw chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Heat frying pan and add small amount of oil. Add chicken to pan. Add 1/4 teaspoon each of salt pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning.  Add chicken to soup.

Place small saucepan over medium heat add butter and let melt.  When melted add flour and stir quickly to combine. Add 1/4 of the milk and whisk quickly when it begins to thicken add 1/4 more of the milk at this point I like to switch to the wooden spoon to allow me to slowly drag it across the bottom and keep clumps from forming on the bottom of the pan continue adding milk each time it thickens.  This saves you way too much time just stirring and stirring and hoping to god this thing ever thickens. But you have to pay a lot more attention if your comfortable making a white sauce the traditional way go for it. Once your sauce is nice and thick stir it into the soup and let simmer. Once again you get get away with about 30 minutes if you crank the heat to medium but it can hang out as long as you need it to on low.

I got my soup started, ran errands, came home made the additions to the soup, taught a workout class and then dinner was ready for me. I whipped up some biscuits to finish it off.