Last Monday of the month = Reveal Day for The Secret Recipe Club! I could not be happier with my matching blog for this month: Beautiful Disasters, hosted by Casey, the coolest girl in the whole blogosphere. I first got to “meet” her when she made a flourless chocolate cake from my blog, and that was the most popular recipe of our SRC that month! How awesome is that? Casey is a hard working high school student, athletic, witty, and keeps a blog that is always fun to visit. I was thrilled to cook from her site. Being a young runner with a high metabolism and all, she’s got a ton of sweets to share, but I wanted to go for something savory. The weather is cooling down (Sally grabs the box of Kleenex), so I searched for a comforting soup. My first click on the index was for corn chowder. She starts her post with “Do you wish you had an accent?” Casey, you got me right there! I simply HAD to make your chowda.. 😉
CORN CHOWDER
(adapted from Beautiful Disasters)
2 cups corn kernels
2 Tablespoons butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 + 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons thyme
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
a few fresh basil leaves
scant 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups water
8 baby Yukon gold potatoes, cut in pieces
¾ cup half-and-half
1/2 Tablespoon white sugar
Heat the butter in a large pan. Let it melt, then add the shallots, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the shallot is soft and starting to get some golden color. Add the flour and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add the water, keep stirring. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the corn kernels and potatoes. Bring the chowder to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
Transfer a little less than 2 cups of the chowder and the basil leaves to a blender and puree until smooth. Stir the puree back into the pan. Add the half-and-half then return the chowder to a simmer. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and mix in the sugar.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Delicious chowder, creamy, luscious, even if I took a few shortcuts with the recipe. Full disclosure: Casey did not use frozen corn. I am sure it would be even better with fresh corn and getting all that juicy corn milk, but I had to simplify the preparation to accommodate my schedule.
Now, back to the fascinating topic of accents. As any immigrant, I am often reminded that I have an accent. I don’t mind it that much, but I certainly wish I didn’t get in other types of trouble.
Allow me to share a quick story. Day one of lab move: I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off, asking our secretary, one of the moving guys, and a student “I need the doily. Have you seen the doily around?” All of a sudden, Phil gently grabs grabs my arm, takes me to the side and whispers “Sally, darling, you are looking for the dolly, not the doily“. That’s when I understood their small delay in answering my question with a sheepish “I don’t know where it is”. (sigh)
Casey, I hope you had a blast with your assignment too!
And for all my readers, don’t forget to click on the blue frog below to see the full list of posts by the members of Group D, the group that closes each month with a golden key! 😉
ONE YEAR AGO: Oven-broiled Salmon over Saucy Spinach
TWO YEARS AGO: Butterscotch Brownies
THREE YEARS AGO: First Soup of the Year
The chowder looks so warm and comforting!
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It was just that… and I wish I had a bowl tonight, it’s getting cold…
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Too funny! Of course being bloggers we wouldn’t know if you had an accent or not! You say doily I say dolly.. but I definitely am saying Corn Chowder because I was stumped for a dinner idea and *yay* I know what I’m going to make!! I love corn chowder!! xx
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Hope you try it! Make sure to stop by Casey’s blog, she included bacon, which I omitted, I’m just crazy like that sometimes…..
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Love corn chowder what a great choice for this months Secret Recipe Club!
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Not bad for the beginning of the Fall… I did not think about it when I picked the recipe, but… worked well!
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I have been thinking of making corn chowder for a long time. I will try this soon.
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It’s a nice change from a classic, no doubt…
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Yum, I love a good chowda! 🙂 And so funny about the doily/dolly! 🙂
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Jenni, if I had a dollar for every time I get in trouble with the English language, I’d be rich!
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hehe “chowda”!! Love it! It looks so rich and creamy!
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chowda is pretty funny, I cannot take credit, it goes all to Casey!
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i love your term Chowda! It looks so good and hearty
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Hubby loved it too, and said that for him, chowder can be good any time of the year, even the height of the Summer. So be it!
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So glad you tried the corn “chowda” 😉 I loved that soup and it is absolutely perfect for this Fall weather. Thanks for the kind post, your pictures look fabulous! I had a ton of fun reading this 🙂
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There you are! Everyone loved the “chowda”, so I’m glad I went with this recipe, although your fiesta quinoa ALMOST made the cut. I will probably make that recipe when we have a little heat wave arriving (fingers crossed….)
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This sounds absolutely delicious! Corn chowder is one of my all-time favorite soups, so i could definitely go for a bowl of this right now. By the way, feel free to steal the idea of adding a list of your previous SRC posts – i don’t mind! =)
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Thanks, Amy! I might do that next month, which will mark my first year with the group… fun year!
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“Sally, darling, you are looking for the dolly, not the doily“.
Hilarious!!!
I love chowah … seafood or clam are my favourites though I have 4 cups of fresh kernel corn I cut off the cob myself and froze away. I COULD use that. 🙂 Is that fresh or dried thyme? I left my sweet and thai basil plants outside and the frost hit them. But I DID saved the thyme. I was going to use it in jamaican beef patties but I think it would be great in this.
Fall … perfect time to start making big pots of hot soup.
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I used dried thyme, but if you have fresh, go for it, it matches the chowda very well
Yeah, I might have to tell a few more stories of what we call “Sallyisms” – now I can laugh about most of them, but when they happen it can be very very embarrassing…
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I love Casey’s blog. And my kids especially love all of her chocolate recipes! Great choice for the season Sally. I don’t think I’ve ever had a corn chowder before, but I’m sure I would LOVE it. It’s on my soup list this season. 🙂
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It was my first time making chowder at home, it’s the type of dish I only ordered in restaurants, but then it would be the traditional, clam chowda, you know.. 😉
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The proper spelling, pronunciation and everything. Plus, a great recipe to boot!
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Glad you noticed, Greg. As a native Portuguese speaker, it all didn’t come easy, but I got there….
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It’s starting to get cold in Toronto…I could definitely go for a bowl of this right now 🙂 Great SRC pick!
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When the weather turns cold, I guess the only way to cope with it is enjoying stews, braises, soups…. bye, bye, dear grill
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Yes, I totally wish I had an accent! Do you think eating ‘chowda’ will help me out there? This sounds delicious either way!
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🙂 Accent is that type of thing that is very nice on “other people” but usually the owner of the accent doesn’t care for it – but, no way to change it, so we live with the situation and try to make the best of it
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Corn Chowder is just the perfect soup to have. Such a great pick on your part for this month’s SRC assignment….YUM!!!
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Plus, it is not that complicated to make, it comes together rather quickly.
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Ah wonderful! Corn chowder sounds so very satisfying right now! We’re finally dipping into cooler temperatures. Thank you for sharing. This looks delicious.
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Thanks for stopping by, Monet! It was a delicious chowda indeed, keep that one in mind.
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Love corn chowder! Great SRC choice!
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Hi, Amy! This was my first time having corn chowder, but it will be a regular soup in our repertoire, real tasty
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It’s definitely getting cooler out now, perfect weather for some Chowda (love that!)
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Today is raining here, and quite cold… I am miserable….
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We New Englandahs do love us some chowdah — great SRC pick!
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You say chowdah, I say chowda… but we can still be friends!
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I love the name of Casey’s blog! I’ll have to go and investigate more closely… I am always up for a delicious corn chowda (!!) :). My family would love this one too – we tend to have chowders on the road (mostly Maine… yummy clam chowder) but I should try this one at home! Thanks Sally.
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Yeah, her name describes certain situations in my kitchen very very well… (sigh, sigh, sigh)
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Please pass the Kleenex this way. Corn chowder is a relatively new dish for me and I felt like I’d discovered gold. How wonderful it tasted and why did I have to wait so many decades to learn this? Oh, well. Glad that I did try it and will be happy to try your recipe, no matter how you pronounce dolly. 🙂
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Well, I must say that the problem with the dolly was not a pronunciation, I really thought it was DOILLY. OH, well – it’s not a very common word, I guess I got them mixed up. But since I’m disclosing shameful facts, I do have a huge problem with coach and couch, so I opt for “trainer” and “sofa” instead. If I say the coach couch, I always pick the wrong one. Not nice to say I was sitting on the “trainer” 😉
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The only thing that makes me hesitate about this recipe is the sugar added at the end. I don’t want to eat a ‘sweet’ soup. Why do you add sugar to the soup and how sweet is it? Can you leave it out?
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You can definitely leave it out. that is an interesting addition, actually. My husband swears by adding a full tablespoon of sugar to the water when he cooks ears of corn, together with salt. Something his family has always done. I suspect the soup is trying to do the same, bring forth the natural sweetness of the corn? But you will have a great soup without it, so I say go for it, or rather go away from it 😉
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Thanks for the inspiration. I riffed off the basic corn chowder recipe and voila… Seafood and Corn Chowda’. 🙂
http://a-boleyn.livejournal.com/110928.html
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I love corn chowder! I’m going to try this recipe out it looks so good!
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Chowder is such a classic recipe, so many variations too!
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It was definitely chowda growing up in Maine and dare I say it was “con chowda” at that! Looks great.
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Con chowda! I learn so much through blogging, my accent is getting a nice workout!
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Can you believe I never made my own chowder? I think it’s about time I try it in my own kitchen. Sounds delicious Sally!
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It was my first time too! I was a chowdah virgin until this past week! So, go for it…
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I am rather fond of doilies, but they are not very fashionable these days, we must make more of an effiort I think Sally, she drawled in her English accent. Lawks, what a lovely bowl of soup you’ve whisked up there Ma’am!
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great soup for when it gets really cold! perfect weather to stay cozy on the sofa and watch football. yum
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