Corn Chowder

I’ve never really had corn chowder before, but this one was really good.  I loved the warmth, the flavors and the colors that pop.  It comes together really fast for a soup – many stews and soups take hours to cook.  This one was put together in about 30 minutes and even less if you prep the veggies ahead of time.  Plus, the soup looks beautiful with the yellow, red and green.

The original butter amount in the recipe is 4 Tb.  When you are already cooking the bacon, I don’t understand why the bacon fat couldn’t be used as the fat in the recipe.  But Pioneer Woman is also sponsored by Land O Lakes Butter Corporation…. so that might have a little something to do with it.  ?

Since you already need bacon for the recipe, I cooked the rest up in a skillet on the stove to make BLT sandwiches to go with the soup.

Corn Chowder
serves 12

3-4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 red bell peppers (or mix of red, yellow or orange)
5 ears of corn, kernals off (or 3.5 cups of frozen corn)
1/4 cup AP flour
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half
1 cup Monterey Jack, shredded
1 cup pepper jack, shredded (or substitute Monterey Jack)
1/3 cup green onion, sliced (4 green onions)
salt and pepper

1.  In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook bacon until almost done (about 3 minutes).  Add onion directly to the bacon and cook another 2 minutes.
2.  Add bell peppers and cook 2 minutes.  Add corn and stir until heated through – about 1 minute.
3.  Add flour and stir.  Add chicken stock and stir.  Cook 2-3 minutes.
4.  Change the heat to LOW.  Add half and half.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
5.  Add cheese and green onion.  Stir to melt.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Eat up!

Adapted from Pioneer Woman