BB Cheddar Corn Chowder

I should start out by saying I've never made homemade soup or chowder before. I've thought about it. I even bought a discount soup book at Borders a month or so back. That's as far as it went. But having recently signed up to be a part of the Barefoot Bloggers group, wouldn't you know the first recipe was soup.

So I wrote up my grocery list, picked up the items, substituting gold potatoes for white potatoes as they were on sale and commenced chopping and grating. Which seemed to go on forever, especially with the onions and grating the cheese. Seriously. There I was grating and grating and slicing and dicing and thinking "Aren't we done yet?"

Although Mr.Data, Kitty Extraordinaire, thought he was in heaven with all that cheese and very upset with me as I would not give him any.

Fortunately for me, Ina's directions were very clear which helped a lot as she gave very specific timeframes for cooking. And I now know what it means by onions turning translucent. Sad, I know. Also, I've learned that if I make the soup again to make even more bacon as once I set it aside for later garnishing found myself grazing on it while checking on the chowder.

I wasn't sure about the end result as first as I wasn't really sure what chowder was supposed to look like...I guess I had been expecting more of a potato soup, thicker but despite that it was delicious. I would definitely make this again. I did find too that the flavor seemed to intensify a little a few days after the soup was made.


So, now that I am over my fear of soups, maybe it's time to overcome my fear of working with egg whites?


Cheddar Corn Chowder
Ina Garten via Food Network

• 8 ounces bacon, chopped
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 6 cups chopped yellow onions (4 large onions)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 12 cups chicken stock
• 6 cups medium-diced white boiling potatoes, unpeeled (2 pounds)
• 10 cups corn kernels, fresh (10 ears) or frozen (3 pounds)
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

Directions

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cob and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain. (If using frozen corn you can skip this step.) Add the corn to the soup, then add the half-and-half and cheddar. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a garnish of bacon.