Saturday, January 23, 2010

Corn & Chorizo Chowder

Yesterday, we realized we didn't have anything for lunch, nothing for sandwiches & no soup in the fridge. Matt offered to take me to Rustica for lunch but I figured I could probably throw a soup together from what we had in the house. I knew we had corn in the freezer so I suggested a corn chowder. I put the question out to my foodie friends on Twitter, should I go out or should I make chowder. The overwhelming response was for the chowder as long as I shared the recipe.
Corn & Chorizo Chowder
It was Matt's idea to add the chorizo & bacon we had in the fridge to the chowder. It's good ideas like this that remind me why I married him.
Makings of a Chowder
I have to say I was pretty impressed that we had everything including the fresh herbs on hand for this. The soup smelled & tasted wonderful. Cooking the aromatics in the bacon fat gives them such a great flavor. Then the chorizo adds a hint of paprika & a slight smokiness to the broth. Speaking of the broth, we used our homemade stock that is flavorful enough that we used half stock & half water, you can change this percentage based on how much flavor your stock has. This is a hearty soup that will definitely fill you up at lunchtime.

Corn & Chorizo Chowder

2 sliced good bacon, chopped
2 leeks, white & light green parts sliced
1 c yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
6 oz chorizo, sliced (This is Spanish style chorizo not Mexican. It is smoked & comes in links.)
2 T all-purpose flour
2 russet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 c chicken stock
2 c water
1 t fresh thyme, chopped
3 T fresh parsley, chopped
salt
pepper
1 1/2 c milk (we used 2%)
2 c corn, fresh or frozen

In a large heavy soup pot cook the bacon until crisp over medium heat. Move the bacon to a paper towel to drain but leave the fat in the pan. Set the bacon aside.

Add the leeks, onion, garlic & chorizo to the pot. Cook on medium for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour in & cook while stirring for 1 -2 minutes. Add the potatoes, stock & water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover & let simmer for 10 minutes. Add the thyme parsley plus salt & pepper to taste. Simmer covered for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Add the milk & corn. Simmer uncovered for another 5 - 10 minutes. Taste for seasonings.

5 - 6 servings

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© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

16 comments:

  1. kat & Matt... delicious looking chowder. I love the addition of the chorizo sausage. I bet it gives it just the right balance of kick.

    The other day, I wrote a dissertation on chowders and your great recipe goes along with it perfectly.

    Have a great weekend...

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  2. This is even more perfect for today! With a bowl of this soup, I'm alright with being encased in ice for a couple of days.

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  3. I absolutely *love* corn chowder--and the addition of chorizo? Perfect! I just wish my husband liked it as much as I do. booo.

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  4. Chorizo makes everything good! What a wonderful soup.

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  5. Ok, yes. Yes! YES!

    Love it, thank you and all Hail the power of Twitter!!

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  6. Yum, this sounds great. I'm glad you stayed in and made the chowder now too. It's those simple suggestions and reminders that lead to a happy marriage. When ty result in great food, that helps too. ;)

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  7. I love the smoky and savory flavors in this soup.

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  8. Isn't it great when your husband knows what would be good with things that you cook. My husband is the same way. This soup looks so yummy!

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  9. This looks like such a good, hearty soup. I wish I had some corn and sausage. I'm trying not to go to the store till I really need to, but these ingredients may just have to be on my list next week...

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  10. adding the spicy sausage is the perfect way to enhance an ol' corn chowder--this is a lovely and most appetizing soup!

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  11. Mmm. This looks delicious. Although your duck recipe looks very tantalizing, I think this is more up my husband's alley.

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  12. You two pulled together what looks like a really nice soup. Dont yah love when that happens.

    For some reason the corn I froze over the summer is just too sweet in my soups. It tastes fine on its own but when I put it in soups it sweetens it up a bit too much. I think it may be the variety that I bought because I never had this problem beofre. Have you ever had that happen with your frozen corn?

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  13. corn and chorizo are two of my favorite things. Normally my chorzo just gets browned and tossed with scrambled eggs along with a tortilla for a simple breakfast. Love this idea!

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  14. Definitely sounds better than going out!

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Thanks for your comments! Matt & I love to read them but if you link to online drugs or real estate or such in anyway we will delete you. Due to the amount of spam we are now moderating all comments.