Corn and Potato Chowder

It’s soup season! I had some lovely Quincy corn in the fridge that I needed to use and a recipe I wanted to try, so Corn and Potato Chowder was on the menu for dinner last night. The ingredients. These are things I almost always have on hand. The only thing I had to buy was whipping cream.

This took about 45 minutes start to finish (not including cooking the bacon). I think I can get this down to a 30 minute meal with a few tweaks. The original recipe does not call for bacon, but everything is better with bacon, right?! This was a totally filling comfort food dinner. If you sub vegetable broth for the chicken broth, the chowder is vegetarian.

This makes about 4 main dish servings. It will not freeze well due to the corn and potatoes.

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2 cups corn
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

Sauté corn, onion and garlic in a large saucepan until the onion is tender. Process half of the vegetables in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Return to saucepan.

Add broth, potatoes and thyme. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve topped with crumbled bacon.

Variations: try adding diced ham instead of the bacon.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese and/or chives.

Menu for March 26 through April 1st

Restocking the freezer this week.  Some doubling up on recipes throughout the week.   Ground turkey is on sale at Safeway for buy one get one free, so I’ll be making a HUGE batch of meatballs to freeze. I also want to restock my freezer with roasted red bell pepper and tomato soup.  I might throw some beans in the crockpot for some sort of freezable stew later this week too. I bought a giant package of chicken breasts, so those will go in the freezer in at least 3 different marinades. (to be determined)

As of today, I am at 99/365 recipes. As always, these are in no particular order.  (Already changing the menu since I forgot a few things at the store last night…)

Sat 26 – Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir Fry – Cooking Light 04
Steamed rice, dumplings (freezer)

Sun 27 – Mini Meatloaves – Cooking Light 2004 (make double) and Twice Baked Potatoes (make at least double. hubby loves these)

Mon 28 – Pork Chili with Greens – 1001 Slow Cooker  and Sweet Corn Cheddar Pancakes – From Asparagus to Zucchini

Tue 29 – Sage Stuffed Chicken Breasts – George Foreman Green Beans (wondering if this would freeze well?)

Wed 30 – CORN/Leftovers night (might change since I won’t be around this weekend to cook)

Thur 31 – Pork and Fennel Ragu – Cooking Light 2004 Rice, Bread, Salad

Fri 1 – Off to Canada! I’m teaching a 4 hour backcountry cooking class. So not ready! Hubby and kidling to eat leftovers or eat pizza.

Breakfasts – Strawberry Cinnamon Muffins – Cooking Light 2005 and Ginger Dessert Waffles – Spices of the World

Lunches – Green Apple Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette – Cooking Light 2004 and  Tarragon Tuna Salad – Spices of the World and and Potato Salad with Parsley and Chives – Cooking Light 2004 (for hubby. Didn’t get made from previous menu) Slaw of some sort? I have green cabbage to use up.

Dessert – Applesauce Cake – Spices of the World (made with home canned applesauce) I also picked up an angelfood cake at the store – to be served topped with Cool Whip and home-canned berries.

Two Easy Dinners from the Pantry

What’s in your pantry? Do you keep it well stocked so that you can make dinner in minutes?

Basic things I keep in my pantry are a wide variety herbs and spices, canned beans (garbanzo, white and kidney), chicken and beef broth, canned tuna, cream of xx soups, canned corn and tomatoes, dried pasta, rice, lentils, barley, quinoa, olives, sun dried tomatoes and jars of pasta sauce. In addition, I almost always have macaroni and cheese mixes, as well as Bisquick and corn muffin mix.

In the freezer is lots of frozen fruit and vegetables. I usually have a couple of pounds of hamburger and bacon as well has home made soups – especially chicken. We love the fish in marinades that I can find at Trader Joes.

What can I make from all this stuff? Here’s two ideas for you. Both use pantry items and take less than 30 minutes to make. Add some bread and salad or fruit and dinner is done in no time.

First, Chunky Beef Chili from my Eat Well Stay Well cookbook.

This serves 4 and has 443 calories per serving. I served it with some corn bread muffins and sliced oranges. I made the muffins first and let them bake while I assembled the rest of dinner.

Sauté 3 minced scallions, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin and ½ teaspoon oregano in 2 teaspoons oil for one minute.

Add 1 pound of ground beef and stir until browned.

Add 1 cup of corn, a 16 oz can of red kidney beans and a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes.

Simmer for 5 minutes and serve.

Another good pantry meal is Fusilli with Tomatoes, Spinach and Prosciutto (Zaar Link).  Serve this with some crusty bread and fresh melon.

I have made lots of variations of this same dish, switching out the prosciutto for bacon or pancetta and the spinach for arugula or kale. Use whatever tomatoes you have on hand. I used canned and fresh this time around.