For the first time in a while, I stared at an overflowing pantry and thought “How many of these cans can I use at once, and still make something tasty?”. Turns out the answer was 3.
I hummed and hawed, and paced and perused cookbooks, but ended up deciding to make Corn Chowder. Never mind that I’d never had it before, let alone made it. It looked good.
In a large pre-heated dutch oven over medium heat, I crisped 10 pieces of prosciutto (Feel free to use bacon, but carefully remove most the fat before proceeding). I let the proschiutto cool and and then used my cool ninja skills to rough chop them into half-inch pieces.
While the prosciutto was cooling, I dumped two can of corn into the blender, added 3 cups of chicken broth, and pulsed until the corn was partially broken up. If you happen to have cans of creamed corn, go ahead an skip this step.
Back in the dutch oven, I used the prosciutto (or bacon) fat to saute the minced onion and prosciutto pieces for about 3 minutes, added in the garlic, salt and herbs, and cook for one more minute. Using 1/2 a cup of chicken broth, I slowly poured it into the hot pot to deglaze the pan, removing all the brown bits from the bottom. Then added in the blended corn and diced potatoes. I brought the whole thing to a boil, turned it to a slow simmer, covered it and let it cook until the potatoes were cooked through, about 30-40 minutes.
Once the potatoes were cooked, I removed the cover added the last can of whole corn, and 1 cup of cream. I brought the chowder back to a boil, and let it boil lightly for about 5 minutes. This give the chowder time to thicken, but you need to stir it often to be sure the chowder doesn’t begin to burn to the bottom of the pan.
Serve with crusty french bread and top with prosciutto crumbles for a comforting, but filling winter meal!
**I also have a confession. For the first time ever, I’m going to post someone elses photo. Why? Because by the time I had the light to shoot the dish, it was already eaten. BUT it looked exactly like this. Still the photo is not mine.**
Creamy Corn Chowder
- 3 cans of whole kernel sweet corn OR
- 2 cans creamed corn, 1 can whole kernel sweet corn
- 3 cups of chicken broth
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 10 slices prosciutto or bacon, cooked and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
- 5 medium red potatoes, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 tbsp tarragon (or oregano)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp of thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
If using only whole kernel corn, start by lightly pulsing 2 cans of corn with 3 cups of chicken broth.
Pre-heat large dutch oven to medium, crisp prosciutto or bacon slices. Cool and chop to 1/2 inch. Using fat from the proschuitto, saute onion, proscuitto pieces for about 3 minutes, or until onions have began to soften. Add in garlic, salt, pepper, and herbs, cooking for another minute. Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup of chicken broth, and add in potatoes and creamed corn. (If using canned cream corn in place of blended corn, add in 1-1/2 cup of chicken broth to thin chowder).
Bring to boil, cover, and turn heat to low. Allow to simmer gently until potatoes are cooked, about 30-40 minutes. Once potatoes are cooked through, remove cover and add last can of corn, and heavy cream. Bring to boil and boil gently for 5 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.
Serve hot.
