Sweet Corn and Shrimp Chowder

By Texaschef11

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 1/2 lb. potatoes, peeled & diced
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, & diced
• 1 quart + 1 pint chicken broth
• ~7 oz bacon, diced
• 2 c. fresh sweet corn (from ~3 cobs)
• 1/2 lb. shrimp, raw
• 1 1/4 c. heavy cream
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• oyster crackers
• cilantro or parsley, chopped

Preparation

Step 1

Peel, clean and tail your shrimp and cut the corn from the cobs. Place the shrimp shells and tails, and the cobs (milked with the back of a knife) into a pot with the chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer ~15 minutes. Strain out the solids and return to heat to keep warm.

Heat a large Dutch oven (or other heavy soup pot) over medium heat and add your bacon. Cook until done, and lift out with a slotted spoon to drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside. Pour off all but about a tablespoon of the bacon grease, then return pot to the heat. Add onion, potatoes, and jalapeño to pot and cook, stirring, until onion is softened, 3-5 minutes. Add corn and about a quart of the hot broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add shrimp and cook another five minutes. Stir in the cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. If you wish, pulse with an immersion blender a few times.

To serve, ladle into serving bowls and sprinkle each with the reserved bacon, some oyster crackers, and some fresh parsley, cilantro, or other green herb of your choice.