Cheesy Corn Chowder Part II

Wow, it has been a while since I blogged. Spring and summer are always so busy for me. Between both of my children's birthdays, baby and wedding showers, and weddings, it is crazy. I also often find that my meals are not too interesting during the summer. I love to have my husband throw a few different types of meat on the grill while I make my grandmother's potato salad and a few other sides. And before you know it, you have a really easy, really delicious meal. Simple but great. That is what summer is about to me. My goal this summer is to try a lot of different recipes and incoroporate various fresh vegetables and fruits into our meals. Summer is the best time for it since produce is at it's peak. I love checking out new farmer's markets in the area. The flavor of store-bought produce just doesn't compare to that of homegrown fruits and vegetables. So, if that interests you, check me out.

Well, enough about that. Let's talk about my favorite soup in the entire world! That is really saying something considering I really love soup. My other favorites include French Onion Soup, Cheese Soup, Broccoli Cheddar...I could go on and on. But this version of Cheesy Corn and Chicken Chowder I created hits the spot everytime. I started with Ina Garten's basic recipe for Cheddar Corn Choweder and added a few new ingredients which led to a very delicious, spicy, filling soup. My husband loves it. And even though I make a full pot, which makes enough soup to feed an army, we seem to finish the whole pot in only a few days!

Cheesy Corn and Chicken Chowder


Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 6 boneless, skinless chicken tenders

1 10 oz can of Rotel tomatoes and green chiles and their juices

1/4 cup olive oil (I use extra-virgin olive oil)

6 cups chopped yellow onions (about 4 regular sized onions)

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon of Lawry's seasoned salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 cups chicken stock or broth

4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced

10 cups of corn kernals (10 ears if using fresh corn or 3 pounds of frozen-I use frozen)

1 jalepeno pepper, diced into small pieces

2 cups half-and-half

1/2 pound of shredded cheese (use what you like: cheddar, white cheddar, or my favorite colby-jack!)

Directions

In a large pot over medium heat, cook the onions, olive oil, and butter for 10 minutes, until the onions are transulcent.

Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

If using fresh corn, cut the kernals off the cob and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. (Blanching means to cook them in boiling water for a short time. You will put the corn kernals in the boiling water for just 3 minutes, then remove the corn or drain the water right away. You don't want to cook them any longer.) If you use frozen corn, which I do, skip the blanching step and simply pour your still-frozen corn into the soup.

Add your cans of Rotel tomatoes and green chiles. As I mentioned earlier, for a big pot of soup like this, one can will add extra flavor but if you really want a nice kick to your soup, add two cans, juice and all. Then, dice your jalepenos into small pieces. For those that don't know, the real heat of the jalepeno pepper is in the seeds and the white "rib" area in side the pepper. If you don't want spice, simply remove the seeds and rib with your knife. If you want more spice, dice the jalepeno and add the entire thing, which is what I did. For such a large pot of soup, it turned out perfect.

Add the half-and-half and cheese. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese has melted. Season with salt, seasoned salt, and pepper to suit your taste. Serve with a garnish of shredded cheese on top.

Cheesy Corn Chowder (Two Ways!)

I don't know what to say about weather in the Midwest, but unpredictable is definitely the first word that comes to mind. Spring is just all over the place. One week we have snow, then sunny, breezy 60 degree weather, then humid 89 degree weather, and suddenly we have chilly 55 degree weather with thunderstorms! What's a girl to do? Well, when the chilly weather comes around, I am in the mood for comfort food. And soup is definitely my favorite comfort food.

This past winter, I found a recipe for Cheddar Corn Chowder, from the wonderful Food Network Chef, Ina Garten (you know, The Barefood Contessa). Every month, when I made my weekly menus, I would look at this recipe and then pass it by.  For some reason, "corn chowder" just didn't sound good to me. I had never eaten it and didn't really know anyone else who had either.  After reading the reviews on the Food Network site, I decided to go for it. Wow! I can't believe I waited so long to try it! This is definitely one of my top three favorite soups! Creamy, cheesy, and topped with bacon! Who can resist?

I will first post a version I adapted from Ina Garten, which is wonderful and then I will post my version, which has a kick of spiciness and chicken. My husband gives it five stars. Both recipes will yeild a very large pot of soup, just to warn you. In my house, it doesn't last long and the leftovers are delicious. I definitely recommend trying both versions and judging for yourself.



Cheesy Corn Chowder    Part I

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked bacon, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I use extra-virgin olive oil)
• 6 cups chopped yellow onions (about 4 regular sized onions)  
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 cups chicken stock or broth
• 4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced
• 10 cups of corn kernals (10 ears if using fresh corn or 3 pounds of frozen-I use frozen)
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1/2 pound of shredded cheese (use what you like: cheddar, white cheddar, or my favorite colby-jack!)

Directions
In a large pot over medium heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5-7 minutes.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper-towel lined plate.  Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the pot and bacon grease and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are transulcent.

Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

If using fresh corn, cut the kernals off the cob and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. (Blanching means to cook them in boiling water for a short time. You will put the corn kernals in the boiling water for just 3 minutes, then remove the corn or drain the water right away. You don't want to cook them any longer.) If you use frozen corn, which I do, skip the blanching step and simply pour your still-frozen corn into the soup.

Add the half-and-half and cheese.  Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese has melted.  Season with salt and pepper to suit your taste. Serve with a garnish of the crispy cooked bacon.

Serves 10 to 12 servings

Adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, 1999

The Chewy

When I get 3 or 4 days off of work in a row, I take advantage of the time and cook. I cook alot. I'm talking breakfast, a time consuming dinner, and dessert. And sometimes a snack, like a dip or appetizer. Yeah, I love to spend my free time cooking (who am I kidding, I have two small children and zero free time!)   This weekend was a 3 day weekend for Justin and I and wouldn't you know it? It rained the entire weekend. We were cooped up in the house with the babes, listening to thunderstorms. So, I baked chocolate chip cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies.  When I was a kid, my mom would bake the Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough and it was awesome.  After I moved out of my parents' home, I guess I became a bit of a food snob but the pre-made dough just wasn't good enough for me anymore.  I was on a mission to find the perfect homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe.  And a few months ago, I think I can say, I found it. 

This recipe is by Alton Brown from The Food Network.  This cookie is so yummy (yes, goofy word, but it is true), it has its own name.  The Chewy.  And chewy it is. Chewy, soft, chocolatey goodness.  The difference between this cookie and other chocolate chip cookies is the use of melted butter, instead of the softened butter most recipes use and the use of bread flour instead of regular flour.  I know it seems silly that melted butter instead of just softened butter could make a huge difference in the end result but it does.  Just trust me. These cookies stay soft and chewy for 3 or more days after baking them. And in our house, they don't last any longer than that.  If you love chocolate chip cookies that are slightly crisp on the outside and moist and chewy in the center,  this is the recipe for you. 

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Baking supplies

• Ice cream scooper
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheets
• Mixer (hand or stand)

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda with a fork in a separate bowl and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream or beat the butter and sugars on medium speed with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Add the egg, the egg yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for about 15 mintues, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 8 minutes or until the edges are golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.


Just a tip when baking chewy cookies, bake just until the edges of the cookie are golden brown, then take them out of the oven, even if the center appears to be much lighter in color. The cookies will firm up upon cooling and you will have a very chewy center.  If you like crisp cookies, bake until most of the cookie has a golden color throughout. And, parchment paper is not necessary but definitely makes it easier to remove the cookies from the sheet after baking. The parchment keeps them from sticking to the sheet. 

Originally from Alton Brown, Food Network Chef

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

Things have been so crazy around our house that I haven't been cooking on a regular basis. We just relisted our house for sale and we have been quite busy getting it ready! Although, I hope the chaos continues (and hopefully the chaos will be the direct result of selling our home!!!!) 

 Anyway, I woke up Friday morning to a beautiful day off and felt like baking something for breakfast. Since I had two bags of Trader Joe's frozen blueberries in the freezer, I wanted to incorporate them into the meal somehow. Blueberry muffins!  I love blueberry muffins but until Friday, I hadn't found the "perfect" recipe for them yet. I decided to look at one of my favorite food blogs, Joy the Baker, and sure enough, she had a wonderful recipe! Browned Butter Fresh Blueberry Muffins with a sweet crumb topping! What could be better? After quickly skimming over the list of ingredients, I realized I had everything except vanilla extract (Gasp! I am never out of that!) but I decided to proceed with making them anyway and am I so glad I did! We loved them! They were moist, sweet, buttery, just awesome! This will definitely be my new go-to muffin recipe.  I have to say, they were better than muffins I have had at Panera Bread (or the St. Louis Bread Company, around here).  I cannot wait to try this recipe with strawberries, apples, you name it.  This is a simple recipe to follow. Try them with a cup of coffee or milk. You will not be disappointed! 

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

Yields 12  muffins

•  7 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract  
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• For the Topping
• 3 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan.  The butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that.  Keep a close eye.  Remove from heat.

Whisk milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.  Add the brown butter and stir to combine.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl  Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine.  Then fold the blueberries  into the batter with a spoon.

Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

To make the topping combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.

Bake on middle rack in oven until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then remove from the pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Adapted from Joy the Baker, originally from The Gourmet Cook



Come back and visit on Monday! I have two new posts: Cheesy Corn Chowder (two  ways!) and The Chewy (Chocolate Chip Cookies :)

Louisiana Chicken Pasta

This pasta is phenomenal. Seriously. Last fall, my husband and I met a few friends at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  After mulling over their huge menu, I decided to give this dish a try. Needless to say, I was not disappointed! After finding this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Annie's Eats, I knew I had to try it! It is creamy, spicy, lovely! If you are looking for a calorie conscious meal, you may want to look somewhere else because this is definitely not it, but it is a delicious way to treat yourself for dinner.  The original recipe calls for fried chicken pieces and the first time I made it, I went ahead and fried the chicken.  This time, I decided to simply season the chicken and saute it in oil to cut back on preparation time and make it a bit healthier and it turned out just great. I love the fact that since finding this recipe, I no longer have to go out to eat to have a restaurant quality dish! In fact, we love it so much, that we have eaten it three times in one month! 

For the chicken:

• - 3 1/2 tbsp Cajun seasoning, divided (I use Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning-my favorite!)
• - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 chicken tenders, sliced diagonally into 1 inch pieces
• - 1 box Panko breadcrumbs (if you decide to fry the chicken, if not, skip this ingredient)

For the vegetables and the sauce:

• - 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• - 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• -  1 red pepper and 1 green pepper, sliced and cut into 1 inch pieces (This time I used yellow as well)
• -  1 small yellow onion
• -  1 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• -  1/4 tsp pepper
• -  1/2 garlic powder
• -  1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
• -  1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper (I usually use 1/8 tsp to make it more kid-friendly)
• -  2 cups heavy cream
• -  1 cup half and half (I used whole milk in place of the half and half)
• -  2 tbsp cornstarch combined with 2 tbsp cool water in a separate bowl

• - 1 lb uncooked pasta (I prefer farfalle (bowtie) pasta or linguine
• - a dash of Kosher salt

To begin, heat approximately 1/4" of canola oil in a saute pan over medium to

medium-high heat until   hot.  Season your chicken pieces with cajun seasoning, salt,

and pepper (if breading your chicken, dip  the chicken into the Panko breadcrumbs next).

 Carefully place the chicken   pieces into the hot pan and saute until brown on all sides,

adding more oil as needed.  Cook   the chicken in batches until all of the chicken is cooked.

 Place cooked chicken pieces onto a plate linedwith  paper towels to soak up the extra oil.  You can then sprinkle the chicken with additional Cajun 

  seasoning, if you wish.  

 When you are finished cooking all of the chicken, drain out the oil left in the pan and carefully wipe out the pan.  Return it to the stove and heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Then, in a separate pot, boil the water for your pasta, adding salt right before adding the pasta (this is key to flavoring your pasta).  Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. 

Now add the peppers, onions, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, and cayenne pepper to the heated pan and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the onion is transluscent.  Stir heavy cream and half and half into the vegetable mixture and bring to a simmer. 

In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water.  Once the cream and vegetable mixture begins to bubble, add the cornstarch mixture to the pan.  Allow to cook until thickened, about 3-5 mintutes. 

Drain the pasta when it is finished cooking.  Add the chicken into the sauce and stir slowly to coat the chicken.  Allow the chicken to heat through. 

Pour the cooked pasta, sauce and chicken into a large bowl and carefully stir to combine the mixture.  Serve hot, sprinkling extra Cajun seasoning and parmesan cheese on top of each serving, if desired. 

Yields 6-8 servings.

Adapted from Annie's Eats, inspired by The Cheesecake Factory

Hello world!

Wow. Sometimes I can't believe I am actually creating my own food blog. Not that the blog itself is hard. It  is the thought of finding the time to keep up with my blog and making regular posts of post-worthy food that is the difficult part.  My blog will be changing a lot for the first few months. My husband, being the kind a guy he is (all of you that know him personally, should understand :) couldn't wait to shout from the rooftops about my new blog but he did so a bit prematurely as I am still trying to find my niche. The background will be changing because the current one (as well as the last one I had in place) just does not feel like "me." So, please be patient, as this is a work in progress.

Please check back later this evening for my first food post about our absolute favorite pasta! The ingredients are simple and it is amazing!