I think that I’ve made it very clear that I love a soup, stew or chowder (well, I’ve never said, on the blog, I love a chowder – but, suffice it to say, I do – now you know!). When I decided to make corn chowder, I got to wondering what makes a chowder a chowder – why isn’t it a stew, for example. In my research, I found that a chowder uses a roux to thicken – perfect, I was planning on using a roux for this dish! I was making a chowder! Go me!

For my corn chowder, I used chicken stock and some bacon – but, you could easily make this a vegetarian dish by foregoing the bacon and using vegetable stock.

Since I wasn’t planning this to be a vegetarian dish I knew I was going to put bacon in it. So, I started by frying a few slices of bacon.

I prepped the potatoes, onion and carrots.

Then I made my roux. For the roux, I used 2 tbsp butt we er (and the bacon grease that was left over) and 3-4 tbsp flour. For a roux, it should be equal parts fat and flour, I just guesstimated on the amount of bacon fat that was left in the dutch oven. I then added in a bit of the chicken stock, brought up to a boil and whisked well, picking up any stuck on bacon pieces from the bottom of the pan.

I added in the remaining chicken broth and 3 cups of skim milk. I added in the vegetables and dry seasonings and brought the broth up to a boil.

I added in the heavy cream last and then stirred everything through. I added in 1/2 of the bacon, crumbled, to the dutch oven.

I reduced the heat, added in a bay leaf, covered and cooked the chowder for about 45 minutes.

Serve topped with crisp bacon.

Corn Chowder

1 large bag frozen corn (32 oz)
4 carrots, chopped
4 russet potatoes, diced
1 onion, diced
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups milk (I used 3 cups skim and 1 cup heavy cream)
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp Umami seasoning
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

2 tbsp butter
3-4 tbsp flour

• Prep vegetables
• Fry bacon and remove from dutch oven
• Make roux, using remaining bacon fat, butter and flour
• Once roux is done, add in chicken broth and then milk
• Add in vegetables and seasonings, bring to a boil
• Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes
• Serve with crisp bacon, if desired (I also added a few pieces of cooked, chopped bacon in prior to simmering)

** If you want to make this vegetarian, use vegetable stock and don’t add bacon