Corn Chowder

Late summer, early fall is my favorite time of year to go to the farmer's market. It's the perfect time of year to stock up on sweet corn. I over bought a little last week and came home with about three too many ears of corn. I didn't want to just freeze it so I decided to make some chowder. Only, I had never made a chowder before. To my pleasant surprise, this chowder was just the perfect way to use up the corn. It was sweet, and creamy and hit the spot. Joe even told me it was in his top 5 meals that I have ever made. I take that as a pretty high compliment. This is something I will be making time and time again.

I adapted this recipe by taking a few things here and there from many recipes that I read on the internet. I made just enough for the three of us, but the recipes I read served more like 6 people, so I will put those measurements in here. Also, most recipes called for white wine. I didn't have any. I wanted to use a beer instead; something with a little nuttiness like a brown ale, but going through Joe's expensive beers, I didn't know which one I would get in trouble for using. I ended up using a little brandy and I think it tasted great in this recipe. Use whatever you have on hand, and if you wouldn't like to use something with alcohol, use water. Also, I garnished my chowder with scallops that I picked up at the farmer's market, but you can totally omit those. In fact, I recommend it. The chowder outshines the scallops and scallops aren't cheap to not be the star of the dish.

7 ears of corn, kernels cut off of cob and cob scraped
5 pieces of bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 small red pepper, diced
1 large potato, diced
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or sprigs of fresh)
¼ teaspoon cumin
½ cup pale ale
4 cups chicken stock
½ cup cream
Salt and pepper

In a large stock pot, brown bacon over medium heat. With slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. In bacon drippings, sauté potatoes for 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon butter. Add red pepper, onion and garlic and sauté another 3 minutes. Stir in thyme and cumin. Add 1 tablespoon butter and sprinkle flour over vegetables. Stir and cook 1 minute. Add salt and pepper. Add ale and scrape up brown bits on bottom of pan. Add stock and corn. Bring to boil and stir frequently. Let simmer 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Add cream. Garnish with reserved bacon.