Cold Day Corn Chowder Recipes

COLD-DAY CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
• Drain or spoon off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat in the pot. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables just begin to become tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the flour, thyme and bay leaves. Stir the flour into the vegetables to make a paste and coat them evenly. Cook a minute or two to get rid of the raw flour flavor. Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, 15 minutes.
• Uncover the pot and add the potato, half-and-half and all but 1/2 cup of the corn. Simmer, uncovered, until the potato is very tender but not yet falling apart, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the reserved ½ cup corn and cook, stirring, until warmed through, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Discard the bay leaves from the soup. Puree about 1 cup of the soup in a food processor or blender and stir it back into the soup. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the cooked bacon and buttered corn kernels.

CHILLED CORN SOUP

Steps:

• Cut the corn: Hold an ear of corn upright with one end on the cutting board and the other in your non-cutting hand. Use a sharp knife to shave off the kernels in rows from the cob. Rotate the corn and cut close enough to the core so that the kernels remain relatively whole, but not so closely that you end up taking fibrous pieces of the cob with you. Repeat with all of the corn. Gather the kernels in a bowl and reserve the cobs.
• Start the soup: Combine half the olive oil and all the scallions with a generous pinch salt and 1/4 cup water in a large saute pan and cook over medium-low heat until they are translucent and tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Cook the corn: Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same saute pan and add all the corn kernels. Season with salt, then stir in the brown sugar and a generous pinch black pepper. Cook over medium heat until the corn becomes tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Finish: Bring the half-and-half and 1 cup water to a gentle simmer in a medium pot over medium heat and add the cobs. Simmer the cobs gently on low heat until they impart their corn flavor to the half-and-half, 12 to 15 minutes. Discard the cobs. Add the Worcestershire and hot sauce and stir to combine. Add the cooked corn and scallions to the pot and simmer on low heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning.
• Puree half of the liquid and corn in the blender until smooth and pour back into the rest of the soup. Refrigerate until fully cold, at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
• Serve: Whisk to blend so some of the remaining corn lands in each bowl as you serve the soup. Taste for seasoning. Ladle into the bowls.

CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Add the bacon to the bottom of a large heavy soup pot set over medium heat. Stir until the bacon is crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon. Add the butter and once melted, toss in the garlic, celery, carrots and onions, and saute until nice and tender, about 6 minutes. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, and sprinkle in the flour and stir until light colored and pasty, another 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, and then stir in the corn, potatoes and thyme, and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes and corn kernels until just tender, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
• Pour in the milk and simmer for 20 minutes more. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly before serving.

GRAMMA BROWN'S CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Fry bacon in pan until almost done. Add onions and celery, and saute until lightly browned.
• Transfer to a cooking pot. Add cream-style corn, kernel corn, butter, and broth. Add carrots and potatoes. Cook for about 15 minutes.
• Mix together flour and a little water to form a paste.
• Add milk and flour paste. You might want to add more flour paste, depending on how thick you like your chowder. Simmer for 30 minutes or until you are ready to eat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

QUICK AND HEARTY CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in corn, water, hash brown potatoes, black pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Whisk 1/2 cup milk and flour in a small bowl until smooth.
• Pour milk mixture into the saucepan. Stir in remaining 1 1/2 cup milk; cook, stirring frequently, until thick, about 5 minutes.

BASIC CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Shuck corn, and use a paring knife to strip kernels into a bowl. Put cobs in a pot with 4 cups water; bring to a boil, cover and simmer while you continue.
• Put butter or oil in a saucepan, and turn heat to medium-high. When butter melts or oil is hot, add onion and potatoes, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 5 minutes; add tomatoes and cook, stirring, for another minute or two.
• After corncobs have cooked at least 10 minutes, strain liquid into onion-potato mixture; bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. When potatoes are tender, add corn kernels and milk, and heat through. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Garnish with the parsley, and serve.

FRESH SUMMER CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Remove corn kernels from cobs and place in a bowl. Scrape 'milk' from cobs into bowl with the kernels. Reserve 1 cob.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, scallions, and garlic; cook until soft but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add corn kernels, corn milk, potatoes, and jalapeno. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add milk, broth, and reserved cob. Simmer until potatoes are completely soft and soup is slightly thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard cob.
• Season chowder with cilantro and pepper and serve.