Moment of Sadness making Chowder
I had a moment of deeply profound sadness. Beyond monumental. Almost of epic proportion. I saved up and bought myself a new cast iron pot, of the most beautiful shade of blue. It is variegated, getting darker towards the bottom and cream enamel on the inside. Behold it’s beauty:
As I was heating the oil for my Jamie Oliver’s newest try from his new Food Revolution (so far I haven’t made anything that I didn’t like. Great book – really recommend it), Steve noticed a crack in the base. I almost died on the spot. I was devestated. I had saved up for this and I was so sad and not looking forward to a confrontation with the store about a refund or exchange.
Turned out to be a false alarm. It was just the oil heating up with a darkened edge. There was no evidence by the end of the dinner. I was so relieved! You have no idea how thankful I was. Here’s the recipe for Corn & Shrimp Chowder. BTW, I chose this one to make use of the boiled water from cooking corn.
- 6 slices of bacon or pancetta
- 2 cups of corn (from frozen or sliced from blanched)
- 1 lb (or 4 fist sized) potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 leek, finely diced (I used sweet onion in lieu)
- 1 quart (4 cups) of chicken broth (I used corn water instead)
- ½lb large shrimp, peeled
- 1 cup cream
- Italian parsley, finely chopped
- soda crackers
- If you are using fresh corn, blanch the corn for 1 minute in boiling water (about 3-4 ears), then let cool and cut of the kernels with a sharp knife. It works best if moved from tip to the stalk base.
- Heat a casserole pot and add a drizzle of oil. Cook the bacon until it is golden and crispy, letting all the fat out. Using tongs, remove and transfer to a plate, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the leek and potato and give them a good stir. Cook about 5 minutes to soften the leek. Add the corn and raw shrimp (don’t add until the end if already cooked).
- Pour the hot broth in, then the cream. Add salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Simmer 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and use a hand blender to puree or mash the potatoes. If you are using cooked shrimp, add them in to heat through.
- On top of each bowl, add some bacon, crushed soda crackers, and parsley. Season again to taste. Sweet and good. We froze up some of it because I used extra broth.
