Corn Chowder with Pink Potatoes & Cream

Currently baking out of Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook by Leslie Mackie

When I was a child, my mom used to freeze corn every summer. She’d buy 10 dozen ears and us kids would spend the day husking corn while she boiled it and cut the kernels off the cobs. My favorite job was taking the corncobs and dumping them out in the orchard; I used that time to nibble all the leftover bits of corn that were still on the cobs. One year, I nibbled a little too much and got sick. Although it is a funny family story now, at the time, it wasn’t a very nice experience.

Fortunately, I still love fresh corn (after that experience, I learned to moderate my corn intake), and I was excited to try Mackie’s version of corn chowder which calls for fresh corn instead of frozen.

The soup starts off by cooking an onion and some garlic until soft. Water is added to the pot along with four ears of corn. Once the corn has boiled for a few minutes, the kernels are cut off the cobs and half of the kernels are added back into the water along with the naked cobs. The whole thing simmers for about 30 minutes before the cobs are discarded (yes, I totally nibbled on those before I threw them away). Diced red potatoes, heavy cream and thyme are added to the pot and cooked until the potatoes are tender. At that point, the rest of the kernels are added back to the soup and heated before serving.

The soup was thinner than most corn chowders I’ve tried, but the flavor of the fresh corn was wonderful. I often consider fresh and frozen corn to be interchangeable, but in this case, fresh is the only way to go. For a little pizzaz, I sprinkled some chopped bacon on top of the soup. It added a nice salty flavor and a little bit of texture. You could easily leave this off for a vegetarian version, and it would still be delicious.