Bye Bye Brookies

Well, I only got about half way through the things I wanted to do tonight.  Decided to take on tidying my office first, and by the time I finished that FH had actually come home.  I brought the plants back to the living room and moved a few things around but lost interest in digging out the Christmas boxes and packing away the last few ornaments and such.  Maybe this weekend…

The other thing that sidetracked me was making homemade soup!

FH often talks about his love for Corn Chowder so when I happened upon a recipe in one of my new cookbooks I decided I should make it for him. 

I was a little sceptical because the recipe seemed WAY too simple.  Not that a simple recipe is bad, but just looking at the short ingredient list made me think it would really lack flavor.  That’s the thing about these “healthier” recipes…sometimes the flavor misses the boat.  I modified the recipe a teeeeny bit and I’m happy enough with it to share.  :)

Creamy-ish Corn Chowder

adapted from Cook Yourself Thin Faster

Ingredients:

• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 cup chopped potatoes (I used mini reds)
• 1 small chopped onion
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups chicken stock (I used low sodium, but then had to add salt)
• 3 cups frozen corn, thawed (or fresh corn if you are so inclined)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tsp fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp dried)

Directions:

• Brown bacon in large soup pot over med-high heat until crispy.  Remove from pot with slotted spoon, leave renderings behind.
• Add onion and sautee in bacon grease until browned and soft (about 5 mins).
• Add potatoes & half the thyme.  Let sautee for a couple of minutes to bring out the fragrance of the spice.
• Add water & chicken stock.  Bring to low boil and let simmer about 10 minutes until potatoes are soft.
• Add corn and simmer another 5 minutes.  Add remaining seasonings and taste.  Adjust taste as needed.

The original recipe states to remove 3 cups of the soup and blend until smooth and add back to the pot.  I used my new Cuisinart hand blender and just pureed until the texture seemed right to me. 

Let simmer to thicken for 5-10 minutes.  Then serve!  Use the bacon bits as garnish.  I also used a bit of light sour cream on top, which I then stirred into the soup for added creaminess.

Tasty!  But admittedly I do miss the real cream usually found in Corn Chowder so I will probably do some tweeking with the leftovers.  I will let you know!

For dinner I enjoyed a bowl with a whole wheat bun with Becel.

And then killed of the last of the Brookies.  nom nom nom.

Happy Friday y’all!