A little more Mexican for you!

Andy and I have a new favorite roadside stand. They have a large variety of fruits and vegetables. The owner showed us what had been picked that morning so we’d have the freshest vegetables and she even showed us the fields with what they were going to have ready to harvest in the fall. We’ll definitely be visiting them again.

We ended up buying some late summer sweet corn before it’s gone until next year. I’ve had my fill of corn on the cob this summer but I wanted something that was going to showcase the corn. After an amazing bowl of corn chowder I had at a restaurant in Seattle, I had to make my own.

This recipe has been family-in-law and even 20 month old approved! It was a hit at a family birthday gathering the other day.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter
2 T plus 1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cumin
6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups canned chicken stock
2 cups 1% or 2% milk
2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced
1 can green chiles
2 C shredded chicken (optional)
6 ears corn (approximately 6 C)
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ C chopped cilantro (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450.

Cut the corn kernels off the cob and toss with 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp salt. Spread corn on baking sheet and roast for 15 min or until golden. (Roasting the corn is optional.)

While corn is roasting, start making the soup.

Heat the butter and 1 T olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt, chili powder, cumin, and thyme and cook until onions are translucent.

Stir flour into vegetables until fully combined. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Add the cream and potatoes. Bring to a boil for about 7 minutes, gently stirring.

Carefully, ladle about half of the potatoes and some broth into blender. Liquefy potatoes and add back to soup pot. (The more potatoes you blend, the thicker the chowder.)

Stir in corn, green chilies and chicken (optional). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Simmer for 10 min. Garnish soup with chopped cilantro.

NOTES

10 servings

Adapted from Tyler Florence’s Corn Chowder

This chowder isn’t spicy and could definitely be kicked up depending on who’s eating it. I would try garnishing the chowder with jalapeños and/or increasing the chili powder.