We went to the farmers market this morning. We normally don't have a plan when we go. I just buy stuff and roll with it during the week. We got some yummy lemonades at the Psychedelic Lemonade stand then started our venture.
Wes was like " we should do a corn chowder" after seeing all the corn for sale. "Do you know how to make it?" "YES, I do!" But not really- there is a lot of recipes out there. So, I had to combine some and then make up my own since I didn't have some of the ingredients on hand, like Lobster. Yeah, there was a lobster corn chowder recipe out there.
Luckily, my 'wingin it' recipe turned out, as I quote Blake, the "Bomb F****n Dot Com!"
Roasted Corn Chowder with Bacon
Ingredients
5-6 ears of corn, depending on the size, shucked
4 medium sized and washed Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite
sized cubes
5-6 slices of thick cut, good smokey bacon, cut into ½ inch strips
1 medium onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, ribs and seeds removed and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 cups corn broth (instructions on how to make below)
4 cups of milk
¼ cup of flour
½ teaspoon of cumin
2 teaspoons of salt, divided
1 TB of oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Shuck and remove the kernels of corn from each cob. I find
that slicing the kernels off in a bowl, placed on a coffee cup flipped upside
down, works best for me. Other people will slice over a kitchen towel and then pick
up the kitchen towel with the kernels on it and dump them in a bowl. Whatever
floats your boat.
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| 12 ears for $5- Go Farmers Market! |
Place the de-kerneled cobs of corn in a big pot.
Place kernels on a large sheet pan and toss with a tablespoon
of oil. Arrange kernels so that they fit as best they can on a single layer.
Roast the corn for about 20 minutes, stirring half way through. It’s okay if not
all the kernels look “roasted”- the concentrated corn flavor from the roasting
process will be noticed- I promise. Turn off oven.
Meanwhile, Cover the de kerneled cobs with water, just
enough to cover and add in a teaspoon of salt. Boil the cobs for 20-25 minutes.
Turn off heat and remove the cobs and place on a towel or plate to cool. Once
cool- scrape the cobs over a bowl to release any corn ‘milk’ and kernels that
may have been missed. Add the ‘milk’ into the corn broth.
In a heavy duty pot, like a dutch oven, cook your thick
sliced bacon over high heat.
Cook until just about crisp. Remove bacon out of
pot with a slotted spoon, keep as much bacon drippings as you can in the pot,
and let drain on a paper towel. Turn your
heat down to Medium. Add more oil if there isn’t sufficient bacon fat left from
the bacon, then add your chopped onion and jalapeno and allow to sweat for about
5 minutes, so the onions are soft. Add
your bacon back in and your chopped garlic, stirring constantly so nothing
sticks to the bottom. Cook mixture for about 2 minutes- so that garlic is
cooked, but not burnt.
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| These cloves were ginormous! and Fresh- you know garlic is fresh when its fragrant and sticky |
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| My mom taught me how to prep all my ingredients before it goes into the pot. |
Sprinkle in the flour and stir and cook for about 2-3
minutes. Add your corn broth a ladle, or 1 cup, at a time- scraping the bottom
of the pot to get all the bits off. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes. Add in
your cubed Yukon gold potatoes and 4 cups of milk.
Simmer until potatoes are tender,
stirring occasionally. Once potatoes are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes- add your 6 ears of corn
kernels and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt, to taste.
With a potato masher- break up the chowder to release the
starches of the potatoes and corn. This will continue to thicken the chowder.
Mash about 10 times around the pot.
Mix the chowder, cover and remove from heat . Allow
the chowder to ‘marry’ it’s flavors and thicken.
Serve with either or all of the following: a dollop of sour cream,
green onions, a few dashes of hot sauce, and a squeeze of lime- all totally
optional.
