Jock's Roasted Corn Chowder

Every year I make a pot full of corn chowder.  I am a little late this year because I normally make corn chowder while corn on the cob is still fresh.  I can find corn on the cob all year round these days but its still not as good as late summer or early fall.  When I first made corn chowder I used frozen corn and there is nothing wrong with that, but for the last few years since corn is available on the cob I use that instead.  One reason I like to use corn still on the cob is I can roast the corn giving it a sweeter flavor.  Last year I roasted the corn on my charcoal grill but this year since I don't have my grill I roasted the corn in the oven.  It's still good from the oven but not near as good as when it comes off the grill.

First things first and we must introduce the cast of characters....

I do have one new member to this years cast and that is cheddar cheese.  I found a chowder recipe recently that used cheddar cheese and thought I might give it ago this year.  Other than that it's a pretty standard cast for corn chowder. 

Everyone has their favorite way to make corn chowder and so do I.  I like my thick, the thicker the better.  I also like lots of potatoes in mine.  I use russet potatoes because after they cook they start to break down and make the soup even thicker, just be careful because you will end up with mash potatoes if you aren't careful.  Some people like their chowder thinner and if that's you I suggest to cut back on the butter/oil, flour and use either red potatoes or yukon golds, they hold up better to the cooking process.

You can also make corn chowder by replacing the milk with chicken broth and then using a pint of cream or half and half at the end of cooking.  That will give you a little lighter chowder but still pretty flavorful.  What this all comes down to is it is your chowder make it as you please.

You can also change this to a vegetarian dish by omitting the bacon but in my opinion all good things start with bacon.  Where would we be without bacon?

The best thing about corn chowder?  It is one of those one dish meals and that's never a bad thing.

When all is said and done this is a good, hearty, thick corn chowder.  The sweetness of the corn is enhanced by roasting the corn first.  I could tell something was different with this corn chowder too, probably the cheddar cheese I added.  I think next time I will add more bacon to get more of a smoky flavor, which is never a bad thing either. 

The second best thing about corn chowder?  Leftovers later this week, never a bad thing.

Jock's Roasted Corn Chowder

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1/2 pound of bacon, cut into 1/2” pieces

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup of olive oil or bacon drippings

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

7 cups milk

4 large ears of corn on the cob

4 large baking potatoes, peeled an cubed (about 4 cups)

1 leek, cleaned and sliced, white part only

3 cloves garlic. minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 -1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/2 cup parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper, plus more for seasoning

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap corn in tin foil and roast in oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and after cooled cut corn from the cob and set aside for later.

In a large dutch oven cook bacon until browned, remove bacon and set aside for later. Add butter, oil. leeks, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook garlic and leeks for 5 minutes. Add flour and stir until smooth light blonde color. Gradually add milk and stir until thickened. Add potatoes and simmer for 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add corn, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and bacon (reserve some for garnishing) and stir until cheese is melted. Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and garnish with remaining bacon.

Chicken, Shrimp and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Sorry no Wednesday night leftover episode tonight due to there is only so much you can do with Shepherds Pie. But just so you don't get to bored I went and found this little episode from my previous blog. I guess if you want you can call this a rerun.

I love the fall and fall cooking. It is a time of year when on a chilly fall Sunday afternoon, football games are on in the background, Lions getting their ass kicked, you can put the dutch oven on the stove and let it brew up a Sunday Dinner all afternoon. This week is a good example of a meal for that chilly day. What is it? Let's take a look.



Now do you know what it is? It's GUMMMMMMMBOOOOOOO time. I love my gumbo there are so many different ways to cook it. You can put ham in it, turkey in it, chicken, shrimp, crab, sausage, okra, or just about anything else you can think of. For this week I chose chicken, shrimp and sausage, just take a look at this weeks cast of characters.



Once again can you tell what ingredients I forgot? Well if you can stayed tuned long enough the answers are down below.

Gumbos are pretty simple to make, really. The hardest part is making the roux and if you follow Alton Brown's way even roux is pretty simple. The traditional way of making roux is to use equal parts oil and flour and stir with a wooden spoon over medium low heat for an eternity. As Emeril says it takes two beers. In other words as long as it takes the average person to drink two beers is how long you need to stand by the stove and stir. There is a better or simpler way however. There might be some gumbo purest out there who will disagree but for me this is a no fail way to make roux. There is nothing more annoying than to stir roux for 20 minutes or more and end up burning it in the end. But no fear there is the Alton Brown method of making roux. First preheat the oven to 350 degrees. stir up equal parts of oil and flour, stick it in the oven for 1-1/2 hours and give it a stir every 20 minutes or so. In 1-1/2 hours this is what it will look like.



Almost perfect every time.

Once the roux is made put it back on the stove over medium low heat or so and add the chopped up veggies.



I'll admit once again I don't remember if this is a trinity or mirepoix. Does it really matter? Nope.

Cook those veggies for a few minutes and dump in the meat. In this case boneless skinless chicken thighs and andouille sausage. I should mention that I browned the chicken thighs and sausage in the dutch oven before I cooked the roux. Mix everything together, add the seasonings, in this case bay leaves and fresh thyme.

Now it is time to add some stock. My choice is shrimp stock. You can use chicken broth you buy from the store or make your own but since I had a bag full of shrimp shells saved in the freezer I decided to use shrimp stock. Shrimp stock is easy to make just dump the shells in some water and let simmer for a hour to a hour and a half.

Don't forget when you are about a 1/2 hour from the end to make some rice.



Ahhh good eye if you said there is one of the forgotten ingredients.

Let all this goodness simmer on the stove for an hour and a half or so and then add the shrimp.



Don't forget don't let that shrimp cook to long or you will over cook it. Once the shrimp is cooked here is what it will look like.



Now it's time to add this stuff.



Oh another good eye if you said this ingredient is missing from the above photo too. Do you know what File' Powder is though? I will let everyone guess or google it and leave your answer in the comment section.

Right now it is time to take a look at the finished product though.



Mmmmmm good. I will rate it a 4.75 out of 5 forks. I made better gumbo the last time I made it so I can't rate this one as high.

If you have never made gumbo don't be afraid to try. Follow the instructions above for making roux and after that it is as easy as making microwave popcorn.

That was a pretty good rerun I may have to make some gumbo this weekend.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo with White Rice
Clcik here for a printable version of this recipe.

Prep Time:
30 min
Inactive Prep Time:
0 min
Cook Time:
3 hr 30 min

Level:
Intermediate

Serves:
6 to 7 cups, 6 to 8 servings

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 pound smoked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa, cut crosswise 1/2-inch thick pieces
4 pounds chicken thighs, skin removed
1 tablespoon Essence or Creole seasoning, recipe follows
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped bell peppers
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
3 bay leaves
9 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
1 tablespoon file powder
White Rice, recipe follows
Hot sauce

In a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven or large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until well browned, about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Season the chicken with the Essence and add in batches to the fat remaining in the pan. Cook over medium-high heat until well browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan, let cool, and then refrigerate until ready to use.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup oil and the flour in the same Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook, stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, to make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate.

Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and cook, stirring, until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the reserved sausage, salt, cayenne, and bay leaves, stir, and cook for 2 minutes. Stirring, slowly add the chicken stock, and cook, stirring, until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

Add the reserved chicken to the pot and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.

Remove the pot from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken thighs from the gumbo and place on a cutting board to cool slightly. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Pull the chicken meat from the bones and shred, discarding the bones and skin. Return the meat to the gumbo and stir in the green onions, parsley, and file powder.

Spoon rice into the bottom of deep bowls or large cups and ladle the gumbo on top. Serve, passing hot sauce on the side.

Emeril's Sausage Chili

This post originally aired on my other blog but since I had a request for the recipe I thought I would post this again on the blog.

It's that time of year again when the sun starts to slowly sink farther to the south making the days shorter and shorter. That means the mornings are getting chillier and the days are getting colder. It also means hunting season is here and it won't be long until deer season opens. Even though I haven't gone deer hunting for the last couple of years it doesn't mean I can't cook some of the food I normally cook for hunting season. The one meal I like to cook this time of year when the temperatures cool off is..............



......Chili.

Just so you know I am not a big fan of "normal" chili, by that I mean burger, chili powder, beans, tomatoes and water. A few years ago I was watching an Emeril Live Episode and he made chili, not just any type of chili but sausage chili and instead of using water he used beer. Needless to say he got my attention. It wasn't long and I decided to make it and ever since then I make sausage chili once if not twice a year. I did make one slight change from his recipe Emeril used andouille sausage. Since I could never find andouille sausage when I lived in Michigan I decided to use chirizo instead. If I was the only one eating the chili I would only use chirizo but since I was afraid it would be too spicy if I did only use chirizo sausage I decided to use half chirizo and half sweet italian sausage. I will mention that I did use all chirizo once and ended up winning a chili cook off. Grand prize was a $25 gift certificate from WalMart. Lucky me eh?

Let's get started with the good stuff. First let me introduce you to this weeks cast of characters.



First we must start by browning the sausage and then add some the this weeks cast in the browned sausage.



Now it is time to add the beer.



Okay so I didn't use all beer this time like I normally do I decided since it was just me and the wife I would only use a half of bottle of beer and a half of box of chicken broth.

Bring this to a boil and time to add some more stuff.



Let this cook for a hour to and hour and a half and it should look like this.



Nice and thick and tasty just the way chili should be.

Now that we have the chili cooked we need to decide what type of bowl to serve it in. We might choose one of these...



Nah that bowl is for cereal.

How about this one?



This bowl is normally used for soups, chowders and stews. I suppose it can be used for chili but I think I have a better idea. How about this....



You don't think that looks like a bowl? How about if we do this then?



Now does it look like a bowl? It is hard to beat a bread bowl but try to find one that is the right size. Normally they are to big or to small I can never find the right size. This particular one is a little big but it will do.

I think it is time to fill it....



Don't forget to add the shredded cheddar cheese and green onions on top.

How about a little different angle......



I'll rate this chili a 4.75 spoons out of 5 only because I used chicken broth instead of just beer.

The big bonus with this meal is you get to eat the chili soaked bowl afterwords too. Now how can you beat that no bowls to wash.

How about one more look at this weeks episode.



Perfect meal for a cold chilly Sunday but the only problem was it was 65 degrees on Sunday. Oh well can't be perfect.

Sausage Chili

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds Andouille, or other spicy, smoked link sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Essence
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (12-ounce) bottle dark beer
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed, and their juices
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
6 cups cooked red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, garnish
1 cup finely chopped green onions, garnish

Directions
In a large heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, chili powder, Essence, and cumin and cook, stirring often, until soft, about 4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the beer and cook until the foam subsides, about 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, and kidney beans to the pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the chili from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Remove from the heat and transfer to a thermos. To serve, ladle into bowls or thick cups. Sprinkle each serving with grated cheese and green onions, and serve hot.

Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.