Corn Chowder

Living in New England chowders are "the thing" but considering I'm not the biggest fan of seafood ... my love of chowders are very limited. Limited as in ... corn chowder is where it's at. Growing up my mother would make corn chowder every once in a while. My mom would make two renditions - one with cream or one with canned evaporated milk. Both are delicious - but the evaporated milk is definitely lighter.

I simmer my chowder with the corn cobs in it because it helps develop the corn flavor. The flavoring/juices are within the cob and boiling it it helps infuse that flavor ... otherwise one might end up with a slightly bland dish. If you aren't able to find corn on the cob, you can always skip and use frozen sweet corn.

The consistency of this is slightly thicker than that of a soup, but it's certainly not as thick as a stew. You could add a little cornstarch and water mixture to the end result if you're looking for it to be thicker.

 

Serves 8. 4 Points Plus Values. 1 Cup serving size.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup yellow bell pepper, diced

* 1 cup onion, chopped

* 1 tbsp margarine

* 4 medium corn on the cob, corn cut off cobs (make sure you keep cobs they go in the soup)

* 2 cups frozen hash brown potatoes

* 1 tsp olive oil

* 1 cup skim milk

* 3 cups water

* 12 oz can fat free evaporated milk

* 2 tbsp flour

* Salt, to taste

* Black pepper, to taste (you can use white pepper if you wish but I prefer black)

 

In a large soup pot over medium heat, add in olive oil and saute bell pepper and onion. Cook until onion is translucent and bell pepper has softened.

Add margarine to pan, sprinkle cooked vegetables with flour, stir gingerly until flour is cooked out and no longer visible.

Season with salt and pepper then add in corn kernels, hash brown potatoes, corn cobs and allow mixture to cook together gently for 2-3 minutes. Add in water, skim milk and evaporated milk - cover pot with a lid and allow the chowder to come to a slow boil.

Adjust seasonings and allow chowder to simmer for roughly 40 minutes.