corn chowder

i'm on a mission for a good corn chowder recipe. got one? one you're willing to share with me?

i've seen what seems like a million corn chowder posts show up on tastespotting and foodgawker and the other couple dozen blogs i subscribe to in the past month. and i thought the same thing as them - what a good way to have corn on a cold, rainy summer night.

so i set out to find the best one.

i sorted through at least a dozen. some complicated. some loaded with cheese and heavy cream (if i wanted cream, i'd stick with my favorite mushroom soup). others without potatoes or onions or any other vegetable besides corn. some stuffed with ham or bacon. until i settled on a vegetarian version. ok, a couple vegetarian versions that i slightly cobbled together to get mine.

only it wasn't the best. the texture was fine, but it definitely lacked flavor. there's something about it that i can't put my finger on that just wasn't quite right. 

so i'll return to my search for the perfect chowder. something that highlights corn and all it's summer glory and tastes like summer in a bowl. 

corn chowder

adapted from a bunch of corn chowder recipes found online

45 minutes, serves 4-6

3/4 cup diced scallions, white and light green parts only

1/4 cup flour

4 cups skim milk

2 cups vegetable stock

4 ears of fresh corn, corn cut off the cob (don't throw away the cobs yet!)

1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed in bite sized pieces

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. in your soup pot, saute the scallions in olive oil over medium heat until soft.
2. whisk in the flour and cook about 2 minutes, until golden.
3. whisk in the milk and vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
4. turn the heat down to a summer, add the corn cobs and cook about 10 minutes.
5. add the corn kernels and diced potato and simmer another ten minutes.
6. using an immersion blender, blend the soup so about half of it is smooth. blend more or less to your liking.
7. stir in the cheese and season liberally with salt & pepper.