Lighter Corn Chowder

By carvalhohm

Ingredients

• 8 8 8 ears corn
• 3 3 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1 1 onion
• 4 4 4 slices bacon
• 2 2 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 5 5 cups water
• 3/4-lb 3/4-lb red potatoes
• 1 1 1 cup half-and-half
• to 1 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 3 3 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

Remove husks and silk from corn. Cut kernels from the cob using a chef’s knife, being careful not to cut away too much of the pulp. Then over a large bowl, use the back of a stiff butter knife to scrape the pulp into the bowl (once you try it you will see how easy the pulp comes away from the cob). Put pulp in a clean kitchen towel and tightly wring the pulp allowing the juice to fall back into your large bowl. Chris Kimball says that I should have been able to extract 2/3-cup of juice, but I was only able to extract about 1/2-cup. Throw away the dried pulp.

Finely chop your onion, stack your bacon slices and slice them lengthwise, then cut them into 1/4″ pieces.

Put a Dutch oven over medium burner and melt your 3 tablespoons of butter. Saute onions, bacon, thyme, together with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, for 8 to 10 minutes until the onion has softened and the edges begin to brown. While that cooks, dice your potato into 1/2″ pieces. Mix in 1/4-cup flour and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, then whisk in 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add your corn kernels and diced potatoes. Bring back up to a simmer, then reduce the burner to medium-low and cook for 18 minutes until the potatoes are ready.

Remove 2 cups of chowder to blender and process it for 1 minute until smooth. Return processed chowder to the pot, and add 1 cup of half-and-half, and continue to cook until the pot has again reached a simmer.

Remove from burner, add corn juice, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and as much as 1 tablespoon sugar depending upon the inherent sweetness of your corn.

Spoon into individual bowls and sprinkle each bowl with 1 teaspoon minced basil.