Date I made this recipe:
December 26, 2014
The Thanksgiving Book
– An Illustrated Treasury of Lore, Tales, Poems, Prayers and the Best in Holiday Feasting by Jerome Agel and Jason Shulman;
Introduction by Willard Scott
Published by: Dell
© 1987
Recipe: Country Corn Chowder – p. 23
Just like this year's Christmas cards (still unsent), I
intended to make this dish on Christmas Day.
But we were invited to a Christmas open house and when one thing led to
another, we got home way too late to assemble this soup and so you're getting
the recipe the day after. From a
Thanksgiving cookbook, no less. Well –
these things happen.
This year, our Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays were very
low key which is fine by us as we merely switch our meals around to fit
schedules. Actually, this year,
Thanksgiving came and went without so much as an overeating moment to our
name. We normally spend the time around
Thanksgiving with members of Andy's family but this year everybody was
scattered and so to keep things simple, we got a turkey dinner takeout from one
of our favorite restaurants. And for
the first time, it was rather underwhelming so...huh.
So then Christmas time was upon us and we were once again
faced with dinner(s). This time around,
we decided that our usual and customary pasta meal on Christmas Eve would be
our big meal and since we had the open house on Christmas Day, a simple soup
would serve as dinner. And since friends
from Iowa
came bearing gifts of sweet corn to us this summer (that we then froze), we
decided on a simple but good corn chowder.
And naturally, the recipe came from a Thanksgiving book, reminding us of
what we missed this time around. And by
the way, since his mom is having an open house on New Year's Day, we are going
to do the same drill we did this Christmas i.e. heavy meal the night before,
soup the day of.
So. Corn Chowder is
one of our favorite soups and as soon as our friends gave us the corn, Andy
suggested making it but of course, we didn't have the time or I, the
inclination, to go searching for a chowder recipe. And then Thanksgiving came along and the
thought of finding recipes for all the components of a traditional dinner
(turkey, stuffing, etc.) was so overwhelming that we opted for take-out. Still, I flagged this recipe with the frozen
corn in mind.
And so speaking of the corn, although this recipe doesn't
require you to pre-cook the corn, neither does the cooking time allow for it to
get good and done (if you are using frozen corn that is). So I recommend taking the corn off the cob
and then cooking it (either in a pan with water or a microwave) until it's a
little tender and then adding it to the soup.
Andy though, said he preferred the texture of the corn "as is"
and so he wouldn't change a thing. But
it's my blog so I win!
I also made two additions to the recipe that I hope won't
get me sent to culinary hell: a bit of
leftover red pepper – diced, and then two chicken breasts that I poached and
then diced. I love chicken corn chowder
but you won't go wrong if you make the recipe as is.
Country Corn Chowder –
Yield 8 to 10 servings
Per our authors, this recipe was a house specialty from the Inn of the Golden Ox, in Brewster Massachusetts. (www.goldenox.com)
½ lb bacon or fatback, diced (Ann's Note: This is not used to complete the recipe, only
to sauté the vegetables so if you don't have enough or even either on hand,
don't sweat it!)
1 large Spanish onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
½ cup flour
2 qt chicken stock, chilled
2 cups raw potatoes, diced
½ tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
½ tsp marjoram
4 sprigs parsley
6 peppercorns, crushed
1 clove garlic
6 ears sweet corn
2 cups half-and-half or light cream
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
Unsalted butter (for garnish)
In a 4-quart stockpot, sauté bacon or fatback until fat is
rendered. With a slotted spoon remove
bacon or fatback and discard, leaving fat in the stockpot. Add onion and celery, and sauté until
transparent. Do not brown. Sprinkle vegetables with flour, stir, and
continue to cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
Do not brown. Add chilled chicken
stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Reduce to a simmer and add potatoes.
Tie thyme, bay leaf, marjoram, parsley, peppercorns, and garlic in a
cheesecloth and add to simmering soup.
Remove corn from cob with a sharp knife; add corn to soup. Simmer until potatoes are tender. Add half-and-half or light cream and return
to simmer. Season with salt and white
pepper to taste. Ladle into soup bowls
and garnish with a dollop of butter.
If you want to add poached
chicken, place chicken breasts in a pan of cold water, and cover with
water. You'll need about an inch of
water above the breasts for proper poaching.
Bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer, cover and
cook for about 8-10 minutes. Slice and
dice as needed!
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