Smokey Corn Chowder

I came across this recipe via the magazine Real Simple. It is a complete chick magazine but has good recipes and keeps me in touch with my feminine side.

Naturally this recipe is real simple but very tasty, Berdie gave it a big thumbs up and she's usually one of my toughest critics. I made a batch for dinner tonight and it turned out to be pretty filling. It was not as thick as I usually like my soups, especially chowders, but Berdie likes her soups (and now her hubbie) on the thinner side so she was a happy wife. Happy wife equals a happy life so I'm good.

I made two changes to the batch I made today. The first was the addition of the juice of 1/2 of a lemon. I have found myself adding lemon juice, lemon zest, or both to most of my soups when I'm just about finished and doing final tasting. The juice almost always adds just the right zing, I used to add salt to get that zing but I have switched to the lemon juice with better results. The second change was the addition of two cans of Trader Joe's Yellow Corn versus the 20 ounces of frozen corn called for in the original recipe. I've posted my ravings for TJ's canned yellow corn before but if you're new to my postings you will not believe how good their canned corn is. It is the crunchiest and freshest corn this side of a fresh cob. I used two cans but will use three the next time I make this recipe.

This recipe makes about 6 servings and about 40 minutes for prep and cooking.

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces of bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
3 cans of Trader Joe's Yellow Corn
3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup of half-and-half
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal (Patterson Garden grown)

METHOD

1. Cook the bacon in a large soup pot over medium heat, about 6-8 minutes depending how crunchy you like your bacon.
2. Transfer the bacon bits to a paper towel lined plate, remove the pot from the heat.
3. Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Note: save the bacon grease you spoon off for use in other dishes like refried beans, we use a small olive jar with a wide mouth and refrigerate.
4. Return the pot to medium heat.
5. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 5-7 minutes, scraping up the fond left from the bacon.
6. Add the paprika, red pepper, and garlic and cook stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Do not let the garlic burn, be attentive at this point.
7. Stir in the broth, half-and-half, and corn.
8. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
9. Remove the pot from the heat.
10. If you have an immersion blender give the soup a quick jolt with the blender, but don't fully puree, we want it on the chunky side. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer half of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth and return to the pot.
11. Serve the soup topped with the bacon bits and scallions.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

My birthday is this coming Wednesday, number 54 btw, and I want to celebrate it with two of my favorites soups. One of them is Hungarian Mushroom and the other is my Chicken Tortilla Soup.

The Chicken Tortilla is spicily delicious, hearty, and chock full of vegetables. But my favorite thing about this soup is the colors. It shouts "I'm Mexican!!!". The red of the tomatoes, El Pato, and chili powder, the yellow corn, the white hominy, the green chili peppers, black beans, the light color of the chicken chunks, finished off by the cilantro, avocado, and jack cheese results in a kaleidoscope of chromas. With homemade tortilla chips and cheese on top it is one of my favorites.

I often use a whole chicken that I boil and make use of the de-boned meat and the stock used to boil the chicken. I like using the different cuts of chicken so I'm not limited to the drier breast meat but get to use the moister thigh and leg meat along with tossing in a whole wing drumette or two. To flavor the stock I'll toss in a bay leaf or two along with some dried basil and oregano. Salt and fresh ground pepper is always included. The whole chicken approach is when I'm doubling the recipe below, if you need only 4-6 servings then the recipe below is the ticket. The whole chicken and homemade broth approach is detailed below the METHOD.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 onion chopped
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (7.75oz) can of El Pato Mexican Tomato Sauce
• 1 (10.5oz) can chicken broth
• 1.25 cups water
• 1 cup cooked whole corn kernels (Trader Joe's)
• 1 cup white hominy
• 1 (4oz) can chopped green chili peppers
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 boneless chicken breast halves (cooked and cut into bite sized pieces)
• crushed tortilla chips, sliced avocado
• shredded Jack cheese, chopped green onion

METHOD

1. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat and saute the onions for 10-15 minutes until tender. Add garlic and saute an additional 2 minutes.
2. Stir in the chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, El Pato, broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the corn, hominy, chills, beans, cilantro and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Serve soup in bowls topped with tortilla chips, cheese, avocado and green onions.

When I make a large pot like the one from one of my crock pots I do two things differently 1) I double everything and 2) For the chicken and broth I use a whole chicken boiled in a stock pot large enough to hold the whole chicken and enough water to cover the chicken with water plus another inch over the bird. To the pot I add a couple of bay leaves, a tablespoon of dried basil, a tablespoon of dried oregano, salt and pepper. I boil the chicken for 40 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and put it aside on a plate or platter to cool. Use the broth as the soup broth in step 2 above but double the quantity. When the chicken has cooled enough to work with begin pulling the legs, thighs and wings off the bird. This should be pretty easy since it is fully cooked. Remove all the skin and discard. Debone the chicken by pulling all the meat from the bones. You can either leave the meat in larger pieces or dice smaller, I prefer larger pieces. Presto, you have your chicken called for in step 3 above.