Dreary Day Dinner - Cheddar Corn Chowder

There are few better things to eat on a cold, dreary day than chowder. I actually made this last night, but the left-overs are perfect for today.

As always, please forgive my poor photography skills.

The recipe, as adapted from All Recipes:

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 large red potato, skin on and diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 3 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter and stir in the onion, potato, bay leaf, cumin, and sage. Saute about 5 minutes, until the onion is tender. Mix in the flour, coating the onion and potato. Pour in the chicken stock and half and half. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly until smooth. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the potato is tender.
2. Mix the corn, parsley and water into the saucepan, and cook about 5 minutes, until heated through. Remove the bay leaf, and stir in the Cheddar cheese until melted and blended. Season with pepper.

Six servings.

Some notable changes I made to the recipe: the use of half and half instead of milk (because it's the only real dairy I had in the house), decreasing onion (not a huge fan), omission of chives (didn't have them), red potato instead of white and keeping the skin on (I like the color), whole wheat flour instead of white and using water instead of wine in the final steps. I did have white wine around but I think people put too much salt in their food, preventing them from tasting the other flavors. Between the stock, the cheese and the butter, this dish had more than enough sodium and it benefited from a little watering down. I also decreased the amount of cheese from two cups down to one - holy lactose intolerance, Batman!

Sooooo comforting. Happy eating, Brooklyn.