Saturday, May 31, 2014

Potato Bacon Corn Chowder

Posted by Erin Wilburn / no comments » / csa, soups/stews/chili

I’m one of those people that eats ice cream & soup year round. I don’t care if it’s 14 degrees outside, it doesn’t stop me from enjoying a bowl of ice cream. Nor does it matter if it’s 80 degrees out, I’ll still enjoy a bowl of soup.

When I made this soup (on an 80 degree day) I thought of my mother. My parents have a pretty nice garden in the summer with lots of vegetables like tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, and corn. She tends to have more corn and potatoes than they know what to do with, so this recipe would be perfect for her. Also, I can remember as a kid she’d cook us meals with smoked polish sausage, so this would be right up her alley. Best of all, it was delicious! Also, it has bacon in it. So really, do you need to know more?

For this recipe, you sauté the onions together with the bacon, and I think that gives it a lot of flavor. I thought this was a great combo, and I definitely think you should use fresh corn off the cob, but if you don’t have it available, you can sub canned. We ate this as our main course, along with fresh buttered bread.

One more random thought before sharing the recipe… I have to admit, I have a lot of kitchen utensils. I have two utensil holders on the counter, as well as a full drawer. But I don’t feel I own a lot of “unitaskers”. I don’t own a cherry pitter, strawberry stem remover, avocado slicer, egg separator, etc. I own a few single use tools, like a garlic press, which I use multiple times a week. When making this recipe I was bemoaning the fact I didn’t own a gadget to get corn off the cob. I always saw them as silly, as I love corn on the cob, so if I ever got it in my CSA, we just ate corn on the cob! If I was like my grandmother and “put up” large amounts of corn every year (that was her term for removing it from the cob & preparing it to freeze for later enjoyment at Thanksgiving & Christmas dinners), I might need one, but other than that I thought I could do without. I might look into picking one up, as I would love to make this recipe many more times this summer! Oxo makes one so maybe I’ll get one soon. Their products tend to be simple and genius (like my pineapple slicer corer). You know, the more I think about it, maybe I have more unitaskers than I thought! 😉 (Oxo did NOT sponsor this post. I wish they did, so they would have sent me the corn stripper, ha! However as full disclosure, those are Amazon Affiliate referral links, which means I get a small kick back if you purchase using my link.)

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Potato Sausage Corn Chowder

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

6 slices chopped bacon
1/2 of a large chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic (or 3 large cloves)
4 cups water
1 tablespoon chicken base*
2 medium peeled potatoes, cut in small chunks
2 cups fresh corn off the cob (I used 3 average sized ears of corn)
1 pound smoked Polish sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

*I wasn't sure what to use as the chicken base, so after much deliberation in aisle 6, I went with this Knorr Homemade Stock. I used one, and it worked perfectly.

Directions:

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, saute bacon and onion until translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.

Add chicken base, water, potatoes and corn. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add sausage and heat through. In a small bowl, fork-blend flour and sour cream. Temper the sour cream with a few ladles of hot soup. Returned tempered sour cream to the soup and mix well. Simmer, but do not boil, until soup has thickened to your liking. Adjust seasonings and serve warm.

adapted from easteuropeanfood.about.com