I was recently inspired to make this corn chowder recipe because we actually had milk in the house. Both my husband and I aren’t really milk consumers. We used to buy raw milk from a farmer here but even then we had a hard time getting through it all. Partially, because I’m sort of lactose intolerant. But I recently bought some to make ice cream from scratch with my friend’s children – and now am struggling to use up the rest of this ½ gallon of organic whole milk. Yesterday, I made cornbread using my healthy cornbread recipe. Today… chowder. I wish we had fresh corn but luckily our nearby country store had organic canned corn. And luckily we could still make it our own by added fresh red pepper, garden fresh celery and our thyme.
I imagine this recipe is somewhat flexible. Do you feel like adding carrots? Go ahead! Don’t have red pepper? Use green pepper. Want to add some peas or green beans? LOL. Have fun and enjoy in good company!
Recipe for Corn Chowder with Red Pepper & Thyme
Yield: 4 servings
Equipment: Blender, Immersion Blender or Food Processor
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion chopped
2 potatoes chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1 large red bell pepper chopped or equivalent (we use smaller ones that grow in our area about 3-4 of them)
fresh stick thyme – this is a thyme substitute that also grows well in the tropics but regular thyme can be used)
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 ¼ cup whole milk
2 cups fresh corn or one 15 oz can of corn (non-GMO/Organic of course!)
2-3 tablespoons flour (optional – I also like to use tapioca starch as a gluten-free option)
Steps:
- Heat butter in pot over medium heat
- Sauté the red pepper, onion, potatoes and celery until onions are translucent
- Add broth and corn and simmer vegetables until tender
- Remove half of the brother and puree briefly with immersion blender, regular blender or food processor
- Replace broth in pan and add milk and thyme and heat (but not boiling)
- If you want a thick chowder – remove about a cup broth ones the milk has warmed up and slowly dissolve 2-3 tablespoons flour. Return this paste to the soup and stir.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
- At this point if you’d like to bulk this recipe up at little feel free to add some cubed and browned sausages (we use chicken sausage) and even small noodles like elbows, orzo, etc.
If you are looking for a good blender to use I HIGHLY recommend BlendTech.
But, a really great tool for pureeing soups, making things like my beet brownies or even hummus or guacamole is an immersion blender – called by some people stick blenders. The one we have has lasted us over 10 years. But if I had to get a new one I’d probably spring for this cool looking set:
or get a simpler standard one like this…
