Chicken Corn Chowder

I first tasted a chowder in Boston in some Tavern. At that time American cooking was like a stranger to me. It was long time back. Slowly I began to develop likeness to it. I usually like Clam chowder and Seafood Chowder, but after visiting Alanna's blog , I think I am gonna experiment with basic chowder recipe and make Chicken Corn chowder. I hope this qualifies me for her soup fest!!

This thick and creamy chowder is packed with chicken and corn ( Gosh! I put corn in everything!) .The use of cream makes it a New England kind chowder. Round out the salad with green salad and crusty garlic bread , and a bottle of dry white wine to make a meal. Don't forget the crunchy crackers. This is a real crowd pleaser and goes well for game night suppers.

You will notice that I didn't add bacon, it so because I don't eat anything but chicken, eggs , and fish. Feel free to put it in yours. You can also add peas, bell peppers, and beans to it.

So here we go. Things you need handy:

3 cups chicken meat, cubed (use dark meat for more flavour)

1/4 stick of butter

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

2 fresh flat leaf parsley stems, chopped

1/2 tbsp dill

2 yellow onions, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

1 cup white mushrooms , diced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 large yellow or white waxy potatoes

1 cup corn( buy frozen to make your life so much easier)

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add butter to pot; melt over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery and mushroom. Sauté until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add flour; stir 2 minutes. Mix in milk, then, potatoes, and thyme; bring to boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes. Add corn, and cream. Simmer until corn is tender, about 10 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Bring to simmer before continuing.) Add chicken, dill and parsley; simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Ladle chowder into bowls; sprinkle with remaining parsley.

Serve it with some corn bread and green salad.

I am also going to try seafood chowder sometime soon, hope that my P also likes it. It was in forecast that another winter storm is on its way so I better stock up on soups. Its been 4 years and I am still not used to winters of Midwest. When I came to US , it was March and was the wildest week of winter season. Christmas is only charm that gets me through it. But this year it wasn't that bad. Talk about global warming!