New England Corn Chowder, Texas Style

Ahhh, fall is finally here. There is nothing more wonderful than a lovely cool day, a big pot of simmering soup on the stove, and the enticing aroma of yeasty rolls. Ok, that was nice but self-delusional, as I do live in Houston and fall is only a couple weeks long, may or may not involve a few yellow leaves, and occurs sometime around December. Winter itself is unlikely, although it has been known to happen every few years. I rather like being self-delusional, am quite good at it, and as I am ready for my simmering soup moment, am about to crank down the AC, pretend there's a nip in the air, and make my delicious New England Corn Chowder! 

                                                           Ingredients



8-10 strips thick meaty good quality smoked bacon chopped into hunks

1 small or medium onion, chopped

1 C celery, chopped with some of the leaves

1/4 C fresh parsley, chopped

2 large cans creamed corn (or equivalent in frozen creamed corn thawed so you can get it out of the bag)

1 package frozen sweet niblet corn (or 2 cans regular sweet corn, drained)

4 C red potatoes, diced (peeling is optional and use more if you like potato)

8 C chicken stock (I used one box of no salt stock and one box with salt)

1 t dried thyme (more if you don't use added salt)

salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste (I don't add salt, but you sure can)

6-12 shakes of Tabasco sauce

1 pint heavy cream

1 pint whole milk

1/2 C *prepared roux (amount is approximate, remember you are in charge of how thick the chowder gets)



Instructions:



In a very large pot, saute the bacon, onion, and celery slowly til bacon starts to crisp (if the bacon is particularly fatty, drain off some of the fat, no need to drain if you used good meaty bacon). Add parsley, corn, potatoes, stock, seasonings, and simmer for about 45 minutes, stir every now and then. Add the cream and milk, stir til a bit til hot again. Yes, the cream is required. You can use low fat milk if you must, but do not omit the cream. Add as much roux as you need to get it as thick as you like. I like mine just slightly thickened and made only slightly browned by the roux. Bring the mixture back to a simmer, stir a few times as it thickens, check seasonings, and then serve with a nice warm yeasty roll such as a brioche - or a sharp cheddar cheese baking powder biscuit which is what I decided we will have tonight.



*you can do your roux in one of two ways.  The easy way with Tony Chachere's Creole Instant Roux or by using equal amounts of butter and flour (melt the butter and stir in the flour - stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture browns, about 15-20 minutes) - your choice of how brown, but the browner the tastier). Now, the make it yourself roux is good because it's made with butter which makes all things better, and has no odd ingredients that you may not keep in your pantry but are ubiquitous in packaged foods (like caramel color), there's no salt, nor are there unidentified "spices". Also, you are in control of the brownness and sometimes it's good to have a more golden brown roux instead of a dark brown roux. But, the Tony Chachere stuff works great, it's fast, simple, is used by my Cajun friend, and does the job exactly as a "real" roux would, it just does not fit in to a Michael Pollen Food Rules sort of world. Use whichever you like and don't forget to put on a nice cardigan so you don't catch a chill as it feels like we might get a light frost tonight. Enjoy your meal