Potato and Corn Chowder

(picture compliments of Weight Watchers)

Guys.  I made this soup tonight and it was DELISH.  Find yourself some fresh summer corn and make this dish!  It's got great texture, sweetness from the corn, a hint of heat, and it's hearty- but still a perfect soup for summer.  Serve with some sweet cornbread and a dollop of sour cream and chives. You won't be sorry.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• Turkey bacon (4-5 slices, chopped)
• 1 russet potato, chopped
• 4 ears summer corn (I used both white and yellow)
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 celery heart, chopped
• Milk (1/2 C to 1 C)
• Chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 C white wine (optional)
• Sriracha (or any other hot sauce you have)

Directions:

• Pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees and throw your shucked corn on a baking sheet to roast.  While the corn roasts, chop your veg
• In a stock pot and with a touch of olive oil, sautee your bacon over medium heat until crispy (as crispy as turkey bacon gets, I guess)
• Add your veg and add a dash of salt, allowing them to sweat
• Cover the lid of the pot to allow the vegetables to become tender
• Once tender, deglaze the pan with the white wine (or stock, instead)
• Add your stock and allow soup to come to a strong simmer
• Check your corn- there should be some brown spots
• Carefully, cut the kernels off the cob (you could also just throw a bag of frozen corn kernels and roast them I suppose)
• Add the corn to the pot and simmer for a few minutes (It will probably need a bit more salt- turkey bacon doesn't have near the amount of salt that regular bacon does, so you'll need to add some)
• Add your milk until desired creaminess and continue to simmer for a couple minutes
• Stir in a couple swigs of sriracha and let the flavors merry for 15 minutes before you serve.
• If you want your soup the be thick, use an immersion blender to blend half of it (or stick half of it in a blender)

Deliciously satisfying- the sweet corn not only provides sweetness (obviously) but also a wonderful texture.  There's a lot of flavor in this simple soup and it's SUPER easy to make!  

Enjoy!

Uncle Bob's French Onion Soup

A few months ago I spent a weekend with Uncle Bob and Aunt Kay up in Dallas. Uncle Bob is a "food scientist"...and while I am still unsure of exactly what that means or what he does... I do know that he has a food expertise that shines when he makes this incredible french onion soup. It was a cold February weekend when he made it for me, and it warmed me down to my bones. We should feel pretty special that he agreed to share the recipe with us; Aunt Kay was convinced that he would never reveal the secret. Thank you, Uncle Bob!!!

"Here's my mods on a standard French Onion Soup recipe. It's hard to go wrong on any of the recipes I've tried, but I do like to spend a long time on the onion saute step, and don't mind a few crunchy bits    on the pan bottom.  Stop when you like the color, then deglaze with the white wine, while enjoying a glass.

I like sliced sourdough toasted to dryness in the oven for the top layer, then use grated Swiss to crown it.  Most people don't notice the red pepper kick, so I probably got a little heavy handed on the batch you sampled. 

This soup is great for leftovers, not just in the dead of winter. It is much better day 2 and 3. The flavors meld and complement each other.But it's hard to not eat it day 1!"