Too Much Corn (Part 2) and a Recipe

What a cliff hanger- you had to wait through the weekend to see what I do with all that corn...haha.

This week and the beginning of next week will feature recipes that Austin and I have made over the past month but haven't been blogged yet.  We are currently on our way back to Virginia and heading to Jamaica tomorrow :)  Expect some tropical blog posts soon!

But back to the kitchen!  Corn chowder is one of my favorites, so with an abundance of corn, of course we needed to make chowder!  This recipe is adapted from finecooking.com.

Summer Corn Chowder with Scallions, Bacon & Potatoes

Ingredients
6 ears fresh corn
scallions (about 10 medium)
3 slices turkey bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 jalapeño, cored, seeded, and finely diced
1 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3-1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1-1/2 cups)
1-1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup light cream

Directions
Husk the corn and cut off the kernels (I used a new gadget, and it rocks!). Reserve two of the corn cobs and discard the others. Trim and thinly slice the scallions, keeping the dark-green parts separate from the white and light-green parts.

Line bacon on cookie sheet and cook for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces.

In a 4 qt saucepan, melt the butter.  When the butter is melted, add the white and light-green scallions and the jalapeño, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the scallions are very soft, about 3 min.

Add the broth, corn, corn cobs, potatoes, and thyme and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are completely tender, about 15 min. Discard the corn cobs.

Transfer 1 cup of the broth and vegetables to a blender and puree. Return the puree to the pot and stir in the cream and all but 1/3 cup of the scallion greens. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes to wilt the scallions and blend the flavors.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve sprinkled with the bacon and reserved scallions.