Wednesday: Golden Corn Chowder

I love making corn chowder. We have a "Midwestern Corn Chowder" that contains loads of Cracker Barrel sharp cheddar, shredded. It is perfect for a winter evening. In fact, we make it every year with the McMullin's in the week between Christmas and New Year's. The version I made last night, is much lighter and better for warmer weather. My favorite thing to do when making soup is to buy the little plastic container of pre-diced onions in the refrigerated section. Sometimes if I'm lucky, I'll find it with onions, celery, and carrots layered. That saves so much time! It's worth the extra money.
1 T butter
1/2 c finely diced onion
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1/2 c finely diced celery
1/4 c finely diced carrot
1 T flour
2 15-oz cans corn
1 c potatoes, diced into 1/4" cubes
1 12-oz can evaporated skim milk
1/2 c cauliflower puree
salt
pepper
shredded cheese to garnish

Melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. Stir until veggies are soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add flour and continue stirring until well blended. Add 1 can of corn, with its liquid. Add half the liquid from the second can of corn. Put remaining corn and liquid in a food processor. Pulse until crushed. Add to saucepan; stir in potatoes. Add the cauliflower puree. Increase heat to medium high. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Cover and bring soup to a boil, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. I used a hand blender to make it creamier. Another thought is to use 1 can of cream corn and 1 can of whole-kernel corn and forgo the food processor. Stir in evaporated milk and serve. Garnish each bowl with shredded cheese.

The key to the potatoes is to slice the potato, puncture them, and then microwave them for two minutes to soften them. When it is time to cube the potatoes, use this cool hand-powered tool. You can find it here. I use it to chop onions, green peppers, potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables. It works best if you cut the vegetable into manageable slices, take the skins of onions, and then get to it. I do this because I do not like thick chunks of undercooked potato in my soup. You do the potato however you prefer.