Corn Chowder

Cook's Illustrated is the best. No really- I've never been let down by one of their recipes. I haven't even had a mediocre recipe from them.  Here's one of my favorites.  There's plenty of steps and lots of work, but it was totally worth it. Even with grocery store corn on the cob trucked in from who knows where. I can't imagine how wonderful this would be with fresh Minnesota sweet corn!

Lighter Corn Chowder
from Cook's Illustrated magazine, July August 2011


8 ears corn, husked
3 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped finely
4 slices bacon, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tsp minced fresh thyme *we actually had this and it was SO good in the final soup*
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup flour
5 cups water
3/4 pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2 pieces
1 cup half-and-half
Sugar
3 Tbsp fresh basil *didn't have this, didn't add it and it still worked*


Remove the corn kernels from the cobs and set aside. (A chef's knife works alright if you stand the cob up in a large bowl to catch the flying kernels. Otherwise OXO makes a great corn kernel stripper that we've invested in and love. It's much quicker, less messy, and seems safer in my opinion. This toy is featured in this recipe write up in the magazine.)

KEEP THE EMPTY COBS! This is the cool part. Using the back, dull side of a butter knife, scrape down the empty cobs over/into a medium bowl. You'll end up with about 2 cups of pulp.  Strain out the pulp pieces using a kitchen towel or cheesecloth and set aside the resulting corn juice.

Now, all the other stuff. We cooked the bacon slices separately, so we could remove the grease and have even "lighter" chowder.

Cook the onion, thyme, 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large pot. (Add bacon if you didn't cook separately beforehand, otherwise add after flour below.) Stir frequently and cook about 8 minutes or until onion is softened and sides are beginning to brown. Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes.

While continuing to stir constantly, slowly add water and bring to a boil. Add the corn kernels and red potatoes. Return mixture to a simmer and cook 15-18 minutes over medium heat until potatoes have softened.

Process mixture in a blender or using an immersion blender. (Another fun toy that means you don't have to wait for the soup to cool fully or clean out a fully dirty food processor/blender!)

Add half-and-half and return blended chowder to a simmer. Remove the chowder from heat and add that odd corn juice you strained earlier. Add any remaining salt or pepper the soup needs, add sugar if you feel it needs it. Serve with basil garnish, if desired.

I think the odd, magic corn juice is really what sent the chowder to the favorites list. This was a hearty, filling soup that actually tasted like corn, not nondescript cafeteria soup. We're stuck in a continuous heat wave this summer, so when our local corn is ready, we may tried a chilled Corn Chowder. I'll keep you posted.