BB: Cheddar Corn Chowder

There is no way a photo can do justice to the superb flavor of this Cheddar Corn Chowder. This weeks Barefoot Blogger recipe was suggested by Jill of My Next Life. Being from Southern New Brunswick, I've eaten a lot of corn chowder, but this one has them all beat hands down.

Cheddar Corn Chowder

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
10 to 12 servings


I cut way back on this recipe.  There are only two of us, and it uses a lot of dairy so I didn't want to freeze it, so I made about 1/3 of this quantity.  It turned out to be 4 good servings.



The bacon that I used was really good, but really fatty, so I didn't add much olive oil, and I poured about half of it off before I made the chowder.  Then I didn't add extra butter to the pan either.


Instead of half and half cream, I used half home made yogurt, and half whole-milk powder with water.


The closest I could get to a "sharp white cheddar cheese" is this "Taco Mix", that is not sharp, not white and just barely cheddar cheese.


I made my own chicken stock from backs/necks/wings of chicken that I keep frozen for just this purpose.




Ingredients:

• 8 ounces bacon, chopped
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 6 cups chopped yellow onions (4 large onions)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 12 cups chicken stock
• 6 cups medium-diced white boiling potatoes, unpeeled (2 pounds)
• 10 cups corn kernels, fresh (10 ears) or frozen (3 pounds)
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions:

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes.

Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Reduce the heat to medium,

add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes.

Add potatoes,

And chicken stock

bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
If using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cob and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain. (If using frozen corn you can skip this step.)
Add the corn to the soup,

then add the half-and-half

And the cheddar

Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted.
Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Serve hot with a garnish of bacon

Verdict:

This chowder was rich and creamy and full of flavor.  The smoky, salty base of bacon made a perfect background to the sweet corn.   I'm glad I used the yogurt instead of cream as it gave it a tangier cheese-like flavor that helped make up for the fact that I didn't have any sharp cheddar.  I would like to have had a few cobs of New Brunswick peaches and cream corn, but even the canned variety tasted great in this recipe ... next time I would use more.  This recipe is definitely my new main recipe for corn chowder.