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When I worked a nine to five job, I was somewhat lazy about visiting farmers markets on the weekend. Baltimore has wonderful markets but you really have to arrive early to get the best produce options. When my husband and I moved closer to Washington DC, I was delighted to discover a small farmers market within walking distance of our apartment. It may not be the largest market in the area, but I can find what I need. And now that I work unusual hours, I love arriving early to the market on Saturday and wandering through the local, seasonal goodies.
If you’re looking for a farmers market in your area, a great resource is Real Time Farms. In addition to providing information on farms and farmers markets, they also link restaurants to specific farms, which I think is pretty cool.
Right now is such a great time to buy corn. Because this is the peak season, it’s cheap and full of flavor. I love adding it to salads or mixing it with quinoa. But in my opinion, chowder is the best way to enjoy corn in the summer. Many recipes use bacon but I think that takes away from the star attraction. This recipe brings out all of the natural sweetness and savoriness of the corn, has richness from the dairy and stock and a lovely earthiness from the fresh herbs.
Corn Chowder
(approximately 4 servings, adapted from Tyler Florence)
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 2 small garlic cloves, minced
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves only)
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 1 starchy potato (I used a Russet)
- 3 ears corn
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon butter
Method:
- Using a heavy bottom soup pot (I use a Le Creuset), heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme and a small pinch of salt. Allow them to sweat for 5 minutes, or until soft.
- Coat the veggies with flour and stir well. You might see a bit of caramelization on the bottom of the pan, which is a good thing. Stir everything around for a minute or two and then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- While the stock is heating up, peel and dice the potato. I do this at the last second to avoid discoloration. If you want to peel the potato in advance, leave it in a bowl of water, but don’t dice it or you’ll lose too much starch. You want that to help thicken the chowder!
- Once the stock is boiling, add the half and half as well as the potato. Stir well and allow the mixture to boil for 8 minutes. The potatoes may try to stick to the bottom of the pot so give it a stir periodically.
- Slice the kernels off the corn cobs and add to the chowder. Allow the soup to simmer for another 10 minutes or so. Add the salt, pepper, and parsley.
- Stir in the butter.
You just reminded me that I need to grab some corn from the market. It definitely tastes amazing this time and year and this chowder seems like the perfect way to showcase it’s flavor. Looks super super delicious.
I need to pick up some more as well. It’s so much fun deciding recipes based on what’s available at the market, isn’t it? I’ve been going nuts with the fruits and my ice cream maker.
I love visiting the farmers market, but the visit can take a lot out of you. But with beautiful dishes like this corn chowder, I would go anyday. I really enjoyed this post and this recipe
It definitely can do that, especially on a hot summer day. Thank you!
Thanks for the Shoutout! This looks like a great recipe!
I’ve always wanted to try corn chowder & this looks like a delicious way to do so! I’m a vegetarian though, so do you think I can substitute the chicken stock w/ vegetable stock? I mean, I don’t see why not. Your photography is beautiful, by the way!
You can absolutely substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock, I’ve made it both ways. Soy milk would also work great to make a completely vegan recipe.
you can also try making a stock out the the corn cobs after removing the corn… it’s a great flavor adder to the chowder and a great way to use every part of the corn you can!
Mmm….I just bought a ton of corn AND I’m ready for fall cooking. I think I’ll make this soon!
I just bought some. Great blog, very pretty! :)
Thank you so much!
Looks pretty yummy.
Ooh, you know instead of chicken stock I am going to use my corn cob stock in this recipe. This sounds amazing! I am hopping to it pronto!
Corn stock is perfect for this! Let me know how it turns out!
This looks wonderful. I love having great local farmers markets. The ones here don’t rival Lexington Market, but two of the three sell only local stuff. Great recipe.
I’ve only made corn chowder with bacon- I’ll have to try it without. :)
I’m working on a book on corn for the University of Illinois, and tomorrow I’ll be preparing corn soup based on a recipe in a cookbook from 1873. I don’t think it will be nearly as good as yours, however — no garlic, no onions, and the broth is made by boiling the corn cobs, after the corn is cut off! How things have changed. I suspect that, when I’m done, I’ll wish I were eating your corn chowder instead. :)
Actually, I think corn soups and chowders made with corn stock are supposed to be pretty good. I’ve always wanted to try it. Maybe you’ll be surprised!
I actually figure the corn stock will be okay. It’s the lack of garlic, onions, and thyme that I think will make the difference. But given how tasty a simple ear of corn is, I expect it to be pleasant — just not quite as intense as your chowder, which looks splendid. I’ve found that with historical recipes, everything is pretty tasty, because human’s senses haven’t changed all that much, but we’ve come to expect a lot more depth and complexity than were possible for most of history.
Have you written any books or articles on food history? That sounds like a fun read.
I wrote a column on food history for 12 years, I’ve written for a few magazines, and I contributed to the Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia. There’s also a lot of food history sprinkled among the travel tales on my World’s Fare blog: http://www.theworldsfare.org . I think it’s very fun to read about food history, as so much of history and culture is bound together by food. And you never read in your school books about the part food played in world events, but it was a big factor, and sometimes the primary one.
This looks absolutely wonderful! I can’t wait for a cool fall day to follow this recipe!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for providing the farmers market finder link — I work a 9-5 job and get too lazy to make it to the farmers market on the weekends even though I always kick myself for it after tasting the supermarket produce. With that link you provided I was able to find a Saturday farmer’s market a couple miles away – so hopefully I make it there this weekend!
looks great! My husband has been wanting to try some new soups/chowders… thanks for giving me a great idea! I can’t wait to try it! :)
Yummy, I love corn chowder! The recipe I use is very similar to this, I will have to try this one out for a bit of a change. The best corn chowder I ever tasted was in Park City, Utah, at the local delicatessen. It was served in a small cob bun, which made the presentation that little bit nicer. Thanks :)