Chowda!

I love soup, making it and eating it.  As soon as the temperature drops below 80 degrees in the fall I start craving it.  I work off of a small handful of memorized recipes for the soups that I love.  The end results are pretty much always different, but once you get the basic methods down there are no wrong ways to make soups, chilis, chowders, and stews.  This recipe is for a quick cooking chowder, which I usually make with chicken and corn (but I’ve made it with turkey, crab, shrimp, and a multitude of different veggies).  Making chowder the proper way takes a few hours, and as much as I love putting that much effort into it, sometimes I just don’t have the time to spare.  Chowder purists will tell you if you cook the potatoes long enough they will break down and their starch will thicken up the chowder, which removes the need to add flour.  All of that is true, but who wants to spend their Sundays coddling potatoes when there is homework to do and football to watch?

Chicken and Corn Chowder 

4 tbsp butter

1 cup diced onion

½ cup diced celery

½ cup diced carrot

3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup flour

6 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1 medium sized russet potato, cut into half inch cubes

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

2 cups white corn kernels

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded

1 cup (half pint) light cream

Melt butter in a large pot on medium high heat.  Add onion, celery, and carrot and cook until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Sprinkle flour onto the vegetables and stir to evenly coat, let it cook for about a minute (this takes away the raw flour flavor and prevents the flour from clumping in the soup).  Slowly add in the chicken stock, stirring constantly to make sure the flour doesn’t clump.  Add the bay leaf and potatoes, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Let the potatoes cook for 10-15 minutes (until very tender), stirring frequently to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.  Add thyme, corn, chicken, and cream; simmer for 5 more minutes then remove from heat (cream can break if it stays heated too long).  Serve immediately or cool it and store it.  (Soups often taste better the day after they are made, one of their many great virtues.)