I HEART...Corn Chowder with Chicken

Everybody loves Wednesday, right?

The week's half over.  The weekend is on the way.

What's not to love?

Each Wednesday, I want to share something with you

that I absolutely love and can't live without!

I haven't written an "I HEART" post in forever, but after supper last night, I knew I needed to! We've already established the fact I love soup. I blogged about several of my favorite over the winter like split pea soup with ham croutons, homemade broccoli and cheese soup, sausage and kale soup, as well as others. But soups aren't just for cold weather. Sometimes I just want something a little lighter.

Tuesdays are usually absolute bedlam around here. Jewell helps teach a dance class for toddlers at 1:30, then has two more of her own (one at 3:45 and one at 6:30). Brack has TKD at 6:45. Of course Jewell can't drive yet, so I have the honor of chauffeuring her around! Add to that housework and the fact that we've completed a full day of school before noon, and well, you get the idea. Usually we get a burger since Gerald is not home in time for us to eat together in the one hour between classes.

Today was different. Gerald had been out of town on business and got home early, so he picked Jewell up so I could get dinner cooked. I had half a rotisserie chicken in the fridge. I trolled around Pinterest and found a few ideas and came up with the idea for "Corn Chowder with Chicken". You'll notice the corn comes first...you'll soon see why.

I took four (or five) slices of bacon and cut it into pieces.

I started them in a cold Dutch oven. No extra oil needed.

Meanwhile, I had bought red onions this week for something else I'm making later, so that's what I went with. You could use a sweet onion.

Dice.

Keep stirring the bacon around. It will separate as it cooks.

When it was beginning to get crispy, I removed about two tablespoons of bacon grease, leaving about two in the Dutch oven.

Add onions and saute until they begin to get tender.

I chopped three cloves of garlic - about 2 tablespoons worth.

Add the garlic and two heaping tablespoons flour. Stir well to coat the onions and bacon with flour.

Cook for about a minute to cook off the raw flour taste.

Add one can of chicken broth.

Whisk well to get rid of any lumps.

Add four cups milk. (We drink 1% so that's what I used.) Keep whisking to make sure there are no lumps left.

  

While the bacon and onions were cooking, I cut the kernels off three ears of fresh corn.

Drop the corn cobs and two sprigs of thyme in the chowder. I have three (or four?) different thymes in my herb garden because it's one of my favorites. I used German thyme today. 

Allow the chowder to come to a low boil. Reduce to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir often to keep bottom from sticking.

I covered it but left it cracked.

After 15 minutes, remove the corn cobs.

And the thyme.

Add corn.

And chicken.

And salt and pepper to taste. I like lots of pepper.

Stir and allow it to simmer for about another 15 minutes.

I served it with a bagged Caesar salad and bread sticks from Walmart's deli. I sprinkled a little grated Parmesan cheese on top.

It was filling, but not heavy! The corn still had a fresh taste and retained it's crunch. Simmering it with the corn cobs really boosted the corn flavor. That's why I put corn before chicken in the name! Jewell had two bowls. Luckily, we have enough for me and her to have for lunch tomorrow!

I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!

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