With abundance of fresh corn to feed my corn addiction, a couple of weeks ago I felt like cooking some nice corn chowder. The weather was still too hot for such a heavy soup, so I came up with a lighter version for it.
I substituted the regular potatoes with sweet potatoes, and the heavy cream with milk and half and half. I used only a small amount of flour and thickened the chowder mainly by processing part of it in a blender. The result was indeed much lighter than most chowders, but it was still not a summery soup by all means. The solution was to up the AC to almost freezing temperature and to pretend it’s already fall and not the middle of summer – and it worked!
Now that the weather seems to be getting a bit cooler, I’ll be making this tasty chowder again. The colors definitely bring autumn to mind, and this chowder looks much more suitable for the season. Try it and enjoy.
Notes:
* Most chowders use thyme as the herb of flavor. As I didn’t have fresh thyme, I used Herbs de Provence mix instead, as it contains thyme, along with other herbs and lavender. I loved the result and will definitely use the mix again. However, fresh thyme can be used instead.
* I used precooked thinly sliced bacon, which is less fatty. Regular bacon can be used instead, but in this case, remove part of the fat, so that the chowder will not end up too heavy.
* For a vegetarian version, simply omit the bacon.
Makes: 6
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2½ cups cooked corn (from 3 corn ears)
2 cup liquids from cooking the corn (or vegetable stock)
5 strips precooked thinly sliced bacon, chopped
2 Tbs butter
½ medium white onion, small diced
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp white pepper
1/3 cup small diced celery
1/3 cup small diced carrot
2 Tbs flour
1 cup milk
2 cups Half & Half
1 cup small diced sweet potato
1 tsp herbs de Provence (or fresh thyme)
For serving:
Chopped scallions and celery leaves
1. Place the corn ears in a large pot and cover with water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Cook for a minute and turn off the heat. Let cool to room temperature. Measure 2 cups of the cooking liquids and set aside. With a large knife, scrape the kernels from the corn and measure 2½ cups. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, mix the bacon, butter, onion, scallion, salt, black and white pepper. Sauté on medium-high heat until the onion is soft and transparent. Add the celery and carrots. Mix and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until they soften.
3. Add the flour and mix until it absorbs the fat. Add the milk, while stirring, to avoid lumps. Add the half and half, sweet potatoes and herbs de Provence mix. Mix, bring to an almost boil and lower the heat to low. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Cook for 25 minutes.
4. Ladle 3 cups of the chowder into a blender, or a small food processor fitted with the metal blade. Blend well and pour back into the chowder. Mix well and serve, with the chopped celery and scallions on top.
What a lovely, light soup Ronit!
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Thank you Kathryn, I’m glad you liked it. It’s definitely lighter than most chowders and perfect for this season. 🙂
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Looks very yummy and pretty!! ❤
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Thank you Aki, I’m glad you liked the chowder. It was very tasty. 🙂
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This is a great recipe and I’m making it today! Thanks !!
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Thank you! I’m glad to hear and hope you’ll enjoy it. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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I just finished making the chowder. It is delicious & looks great in my chowder bowls. Tanks again🐾
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Wow, you are quick! I’m very glad to hear and thanks for the lovely update. 🙂
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I don’t waste anytime…well seldom anyway 🙂
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🙂
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Loved your recipe.Thanks for the share.
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Thank you Anuradha, I’m glad you liked the recipe. It’s my pleasure to share. 🙂
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Reblogged this on On the Road Cooking and commented:
Yum! Must make this while there still is lots of fresh, sweet corn at the market.
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This is the type of soup that I make frequently – but usually just using up bits of this and that, along with the requisite potato/sweet potato and a good amount of caramelized onions. I usually thicken with flour, but that’s a great idea to just whiz some of the veggies into compliance.
Virtual hugs,
Judie
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Pureeing part of the soups definitely helps reduce the amount of flour for thickening and makes the soup much lighter. Highly recommended! 🙂
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Loved recipe… Yummy
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Thank you Ruchi, I’m glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
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Reblogged this on hocuspocus13 and commented:
jinxx🍁xoxo
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This looks wonderful! Sweet potatoes are so much better than regular potatoes!
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Thank you Mimi, I’m glad you liked my version. Sweet potatoes are much lighter in texture so they fit here well. In the winter I’ll go back to chowders with regular potatoes. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Purple Silky Kisses and commented:
This sounds yummy!
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I love your recipe – thank you, Ronit!
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Thank you Dolly, I’m glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
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I never thought to substitute sweet potatoes for regular ones with corn. Must try as we love sweet potatoes. Did you find the soup a bit sweet? My regular corn chowder ends up pretty sweet with regular potatoes sometimes. Depends on the corn. I add a glug of some kind of vinegar and it doesn’t taste like dessert soup.
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The sweet potatoes definitely made the chowder lighter, and indeed a bit sweeter. The salt, bacon and white/black pepper balance it well, but it’s still not a soup for someone who’s not into a bit of sweetness in their food… 🙂
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I can see autumn in the bowl and imagine the autumn flavour on my tangue…. I love the gentle sweetness of sweet potato and milk/cream. The AC story made me smile 🙂
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Oops, sorry for the typo – tongue
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Thank you, I’m glad you’ve found the recipe interesting. The colors are definitely more suitable for this season, but indeed the A/C helped a lot in the hotter days! 🙂
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Great recipe to use both veggies. Herbes de Province is a favorite blend of herbs and I should use it more like you have in this soup.
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Thank you Judi, I’m glad you liked my version. The addition of Herbs the Provence worked so well I will definitely use it more often is soups. 🙂
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Love this recipe! Yum!!
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Thank you Debbie, I’m glad you to know! 🙂
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Delicious!!!
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Thank you Gloria! 🙂
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Interesting combo – anxious to try this!
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Thank you Joyce, I’m glad you liked the recipe. It’s really a nice combo and I hope you’ll enjoy it too. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. Best regards! 🙂
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With sweet potato and corn, I know I’m going to love this! Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you Dave, I’m glad you liked the combination. I liked it a lot and will be making it again soon. Hope you’ll enjoy it too. I’ll be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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Lovely!!
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Thank you Lyn! 🙂
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Most welcome
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Delicious looking soup. That notwithstanding my aversion to tinned corn. It has even made me dubious about fresh corn, which I love when I get to eat it. I need to get over myself, as the saying goes.
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lol Fresh corn is indeed much better than any tinned corn. I definitely try to have as much as humanly possible while it is in season, and freeze some more for later. However, when these options fail, I can’t deny I would still choose the tinned stuff over nothing. Hopeless addict!. 🙂
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Love corn, love corn chowder. Might give the recipe to my mum who is the queen of soups. She has no recipes, Ronit, just uses what she has in the fridge and it’s always delicious plus.
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Thank you Mary, I’m glad you liked my chowder version.
Most of my recipes actually start like your mother’s cooking, with the difference I end up writing down my experiments. 🙂
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If this had come out first you could have had the slogan, “Tastes great. Less filling.”
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🙂
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Looks tasty 🙂 🙂
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Thank you Sabitha! 🙂
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Sounds like a wonderful chowder Ronit and I love your step by step photos!! 🙂
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Thank you Marisa, I’m glad you liked the chowder and photos. I already made it again… 🙂
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Yes Ronit, I can see why😊delicious😊
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Healthy and wholesome:)
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Thank you Rashmi! 🙂
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Fantastic with all those veggies. Have to try it
I am following your blog, and wanted to invite you to participate and feature as a Guest poster with us, and share some of your awesome recipes on our blog?
Have a look at: https://cookandenjoyrecipes.wordpress.com/2016/09/09/update-fellow-bloggers-sharing-is-caring-recipe-exchange/ and leave me a note in the comments with a link to a recipe on your blog, if you’re interested. That will be just fantastic. Hope to hear from you soon 😊
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Thank you Esmé, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I will check out the link soon. 🙂
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Love corn chowder, Ronit and your idea of using sweet potato is brilliant! I also like this lighter version.
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Thank you Sandhya, I’m glad you liked my lighter version. The sweet potato worked so well with the corn, I already made this soup again. 🙂
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This is going to be a staple in my home too, Ronit. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
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My pleasure to share Sandhya. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂
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This soup looks glorious and I love how you tricked yourself with the air!
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Thank you! The soup turned out to be a great success. The AC trick worked perfectly! 🙂
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Soothing!! Can read that consistency of that soup!! Those vibrant colours are very appetising aswell:)
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Thank you Sumith! I was very happy with how this soup came out and I’m glad you liked it too. 🙂
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