Dinner Last Night

Last night I made one of my favorites, Potato Corn Chowder.

Ingredients

6 to 8 large potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
2 cups cream
2 12 ounce cans evaporated milk
2 12 ounce cans creamed corn
1 pound fresh baby carrots or 2 cups chopped carrots
1 pound fresh frozen whole kernel corn
2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms, or two handfuls dried mushrooms
1 medium white onion, chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
Seasonings

After scrubbing the potatoes clean, slice lengthwise into quarters and then slice the quarters into 1/4 inch slices.  Place in a LARGE stock pot and add enough water to cover the potatoes.  Salt liberally and bring to a boil.  Once the potatoes come to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are just barely fork tender.  Skim off the foam at the top of the pot and then remove about half the water.   Add rest of food ingredients and mix gently.  Add seasonings to taste.   Simmer until onions are tender and sweet.  Thicken with a slurry of corn starch if preferred.   Serve with a nice crusty bread or biscuits.   Prep and cooking time - less than an hour.   Feeds an army.

What seasonings should you use?  That's up to you.  I added some more salt, lots of black pepper, and a liberal dose of Essence.  This made the soup really peppery and flavorful.  I've also used red pepper flake, Old Bay seasoning, or whatever floated my boat at the time.  This is a pretty forgiving, free-form dish to make.

Variations -

Fry up two or three thick slices of bacon until very crispy but not burnt.  Use the resulting fat to make a rue and use that to thicken the chowder.  Crumble up the bacon and add to the chowder, but reduce the amount of salt you use.

Add your favorite bi-valve to make a really good clam chowder.  I usually use canned clams because I can't smell the ocean from here and add all the water from the can along with the meat for added flavor.