Corn and Cheese Chowder Recipe

Sunday morning Cal was sick and we were unable to go to church.  

I am so thankful for a church that asks people to not bring their children into the children's programs if they have a cough or a runny nose.  LOVE that!!!  Not that I love staying home from church (booooo!) but I do appreciate that they are making sure to keep germies at bay in a place that they could so easy run rampant.  

Anywho, after watching the Pioneer Woman while I should have been in a pew, I decided to make corn chowder (because she did and I think she's fun), but I have a recipe of my own, y'all...

 First I chop 3/4 of an onion and I snip 1/2 cup (estimatingly) into a pan with 3 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Saute over medium-high heat until onions become translucent and the bacon renders its fat up for ya.

 While all of that is going on I chop 3/4 of a green pepper and 3/4 of a red pepper.  Dump in with a bag of frozen corn.  Sprinkle 3 tablespoons (or so) of flour onto everything and stir.  Now add 3 cups chicken stock (or for me as I was out, 3 cups of water and 3 bouillon cubes...its fancy up in here!)  Let simmer away...

You can grate the cheese to your hearts content while everything melds together in the pot, simmering gently away.  Use any cheese you like.  Use cheese to get rid of it. I don't care.  Just use cheese.  I think the one cheese that might give you fits though is Mozzarella just because of the stringyness of it when it's melted.  Maybe stay away from that guy.   I grate about 3 cups.  I dump about 2 and a half cups into the soup and reserve half a cup for sprinkling over bowls at the end. You want to turn your heat WAY down when you add the cheese.  You will also add 2 cups of half and half.  Or if you are me you can add 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of milk.  Do you know what cream and milk make?  Yep, you guessed it...half and half :)  You can also add 1/4 cup scallions (that's fancy for GREEN ONIONS)

Once the cheese has melted in the soup it's ready to eat.  Dig in folks.  You can sprinkle scallions and cheese on the top if you wish and enjoy!

Delish!  This recipe makes enough that we each had 2 bowls throughout the afternoon, Nick took it to work the next day for lunch, and I still have a large canning jar of it frozen in the freezer...perfect!

3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup bacon, sliced with scissors
3/4 of a green pepper, chopped
3/4 of a red pepper, chopped
16 oz. bag frozen corn
3 tbsp. flour
3 c. chicken stock
1 c. milk
1 c. cream
1/3 c. green onions, sliced
3 c. shredded cheese

Chop onion and snip bacon into a pan with butter and olive oil.  Saute over medium-high heat until onions become translucent and the bacon renders its fat. Add peppers and bag of frozen corn.  Sprinkle flour onto everything and stir.  Now add chicken stock and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn heat down to low and add 2 1/2 cup of the cheese; reserve 1/2 cup of cheese for garnish. Add 2 cups of half and half.  Or if you are me you can add 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of milk.  You can also add 1/4 cup scallions at this time or just save them all for garnish.  Once cheese has melted and everything has warmed through it is ready to serve.  Refrigerate leftovers.