Corn Chowder

This chowder is one of my go-to comfort foods. Especially when it's cold like it's been. This recipe I got from my sister-in-law Carrie. She got it from my mother-in-law. Russell doesn't particularly care for it - but I LOVE it! So it gets to come to my recipe blog. As a side note...I like to do my bacon in the oven. It's less messy that way. I keep a canning jar in the fridge for bacon drippings. Actually there are about 5 or so in my freezer as well. Who knows....they just might come in handy. When I need a bit of bacon drippings here or there - I just scoop it out and return the jar to the fridge.

Corn Chowder
1/2 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled, save 3 TBSP of drippings
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 TBSP flour
3 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups corn, cream style or not - it's up to you (canned or fresh or frozen is also your option)
3 cups diced potatoes, cooked and drained
parsley - to make it look pretty (you decide)
paprika - to make it look pretty (again - you decide)

Cook onion and celery in bacon fat about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly. This step doesn't take very long at all. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. This step takes awhile. You want to end up with a nice thick creamy base for your chowder. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in pepper, corn, potatoes, parsley and paprika. Stir in bacon.
Serves: 6

Potato Chowder

I don't have a picture of this tasty cold weather chowder. So....when I make it again - I will be sure to take one to post. This recipe comes from Ellie at http://thisismydisease.com/ . She sent this recipe with some other ones to try. So far - this is the first. It's a very versatile recipe. I will post what she does and what I did. She likes to put hers in a crockpot.

Potato Chowder
3/4 bag frozen o'brien potatoes (I used mashed potatoes since I had a bunch that needed to be used)
1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
2 1/2 quarts chicken broth (I used my homecanned chicken stock)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 tsp black pepper or to taste (I would use less then add more later)
1/2 tsp cayenne or to taste (I would use less then add more later)
2/3 tsp sea salt (I used regular as I don't have sea salt)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp hot sauce (I opted out on this one)
1/3 bag carrots, shredded (I used frozen carrots I ran through the mini processor - about 1 cup)
6 oz cream cheese, cubed and at room temp. (I used the whole 8 oz brick)
1/3 cup sour cream
12 oz broccoli florettes, steamed in bag (I used fresh and chopped them up)
4 oz cooked bacon (I love bacon so used more than 4 oz) :)

Sour cream, cheddar cheese, chives for garnish

Place first 10 ingredients in a 6 quart crock pot. Set temperature to low for crockpot and cook for 4 hours. Increase temperature to high and add carrots. Cook 2 hours. Remove as many of the solid potatoes as you want. Mash and return to crockpot with cream cheese and sour cream. Reduce temperature to low. Cook for 1 hour. Steam broccoli according to package directions. Add broccoli and bacon. Cook for 1 hour on low. Serve with sour cream, cheese and chives.

**I combined everything in a large Dutch oven and simmered until heated through. Certainly very tasty. The kids like dunking french bread in their soups/chowders and this one was no exception!

Disney's Monterey Clam Chowder

This very tasty recipe comes from participating in the November Aussie/NZ recipe swap. TasteTester is the chef and she comes from Florida. She says she got this recipe from the "Disney Magazine." The Pacfic Wharf Cafe in Disneyland makes this chowder and this is one of their most requested recipes.

My kids ate all of their dinner last night. I am wondering if it was because the word "Disney" was in the title of the recipe! I did make a couple changes like increasing the veggies and adding additional flavor.

Disney's Monterey Clam Chowder
5 TBSP butter
5 TBSP flour
2 TBSP vegetable oil
3 cups red potatoes, cubed
3/4 cup diced onion
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup celery
1 cup clam juice
1 pint chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup chopped clam (next time I will use 2 cans drained, minced clams)
1/2 TBSP dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch white pepper
3/4 tsp tabasco sauce (I will decrease this next time. It does give a kick.)

Melt butter in a saucepan and add flour to make a roux. I added part of the chicken stock to this. Stir often and set aside.
In a large pot, heat the oil. Saute the potatoes, onion peppers and celery over medium heat until the potatoes are just barely tender. Add cream, clams thyme, salt, pepper, tabasco sauce and roux. Whisk well to blend.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer - stirring often. Add more seasoning to taste. I added some garlic salt and celery salt.
We had this with homemade french bread for a very satisfying meal.