Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
1-2 jalapenos, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups canned vegetable stock
2 cups heavy cream
2-3 Idaho potatoes, diced
6 ears corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 lb bacon
¼ cup scallions
¼ cup cheddar cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Cook the bacon until crispy then remove from the heat.  Allow the bacon to cool for approximately 5 minutes so you don’t burn yourself.  Once the bacon has cooled, dice into small pieces as the bacon will be used to top your chowder.

Heat the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, jalapenos and thyme.  Cook these ingredients for approximately 8-10 minutes or until the onion appears to have softened. Evenly add the flour over the vegetables and stir to coat everything well. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add the heavy cream and potatoes.  Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.  Boil hard for about 7-10 minutes until the potatoes soften.

Cut the corn kernels off the cob and add to the soup.  To help thicken the soup, you can take the back of your knife and scrape the cob into the soup however this is not necessary to the overall preparation of the soup.

Season with salt, pepper and parsley. Lower heat and simmer until the corn is soft, about 10 to 12 minutes.  Once the soup is done, let it rest for approximately 5 minutes which will allow the chowder to thicken. Next, ladle into serving bowl.  Top the chowder with the chopped bacon, scallions and cheddar cheese.  Allow the cheese to melt and serve.

Note: Whether you peel the potatoes is up to your preference.  Also, feel free to modify the ingredients in this recipe to fit your palette.  Many people will wonder if the jalapenos will make the chowder spicy.  Since the jalapenos have the seeds removed and are cooked down from the start of the cooking process, they add some kick but does not make the dish spicy overall.

Enjoy!

You can download a PDF version of this Corn and Potato Chowder.

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Original Recipe by: Tyler Florence
Photo by: fille_de_photo