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Creamy Corn Chowder Honors Father Rick Curry

September 21, 2016 by Laura 5 Comments

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When I went to DC’s Dog Tag Bakery, making Creamy Corn Chowder was the farthest thing from my mind. After all, I was there to meet Betsy Eves, learn about the Dog Tag Inc. Fellowship Program, and munch on cookies.

But as soon as I saw this book, I was smitten.

20160921cornchowderbook-w-1

Have you ever seen a more beautiful smile than Father Rick Curry’s? And if that weren’t enough, there was the title – talk about the literary equivalent of “click bait”!

(Although his title on the book cover is Brother Rick Curry, I call him Father Curry. He published the book when he was a Jesuit brother and later became a Jesuit priest. Here’s a short explanation of the difference between the roles from the Jesuits’ own website.)

Read up on Father Rick Curry when you get the chance. He founded DC’s Dog Tag Bakery with businesswoman and philanthropist Connie Milstein. Besides his spirituality, caring for his fellow human beings, and incredible talents in many fields, Father Curry had boundless energy. Although he is no longer with us (he died in 2015),  I feel his presence in the bakery and in the warmth of its staff and fellows. 

As glanced over the recipes (organized by Catholic holidays), I wanted to make just about every one, except maybe Bean Sprout Soup. And after reading the ingredients, even that sounded appetizing, once I mentally re-named it Irish American pho. 

I bookmarked the recipe for matzo balls. I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or give Father Curry the benefit of the doubt on that one. As the weather cools, I’ll make his matzo balls and let you know whether I think the results are worthy of my homemade chicken soup. 

Meanwhile, I turned his Cream of Corn Soup into Creamy Corn Chowder with a few ingredient substitutions, an added potato, and a quick buzz from my immersion blender.

Ingredients for Creamy Corn Chowder. | Mother Would Know

Why is mine chowder and not simply soup? According to one of my favorite food trivia sites, TheKitchn, chowder is chunky and contains potato, usually in a cream base. Sounds like my recipe. 

Eat Creamy Corn Chowder cold or warm it up, use it as a main dish with a side salad or as a first course in a bigger meal. Any which way, it’s a keeper in my book. 

Creamy Corn Chowder - a delicious and simple soup in honor of Father Rick Curry. | Mother Would Know

Creamy Corn Chowder
Print

Creamy Corn Chowder

A simple soup, this chowder lets the corn taste shine through. It's a chowder with cream and potato - substantial but not heavy.
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 - 2 1/2 cups yellow onion, finely chopped About 2 onion or 12 ounces.
  • 3/4-1 cup Yukon gold or similar potato, cut into small dice (about 1/2-inch pieces) About 1 medium potato or 5-6 ounces.
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 cups chicken broth Heated (microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 45-60 seconds) or heated almost to simmer in a saucepan.
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 3 cups fresh corn kernels Equal to 4 cobs. Retain the corn cobs for adding to the soup.
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt Plus more if desired.
  • Worcestershire sauce or hot sauce Optional

Instructions

  1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy pot. (Cast iron works well.) Add the chopped onion and diced potato. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is transparent, about 8 minutes.
    Onion and potato chopped for Corn Chowder
  2. Stir in the flour, lower the heat slightly, and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes until the flour is absorbed and gets a chance to cook a bit.
    Add flour to cooked onion and potato for Corn Chowder
  3. Gradually add in the heated chicken broth, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and a bit thickened. Add in the white pepper.
  4. Add in the corn kernels and bring the chowder to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the corn cobs, tilting them so that excess liquid drips back into the pot.
    Adding corn to the onion, potato, flour and chicken broth for Corn Chowder.
  5. Then carefully transfer about 2 cups of the liquid and bits of corn, onion, and potato to a blender or a deep container into which you can fit an immersion blender. Puree the 2 cups of soup and pour it back into the large pot.
    Using an immersion or regular blender, blending part of soup to make Corn Chowder
  6. Add the milk, heavy cream, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir those ingredients into the chowder. Bring it to a simmer if you will serve the chowder hot, being careful not to let it boil once you've added the milk and cream. If serving cold, refrigerate the chowder.
    Adding milk and cream to Corn Chowder
  7. Serve with Worchestershire sauce or hot sauce and extra salt.
    Creamy Corn Chowder

Recipe Notes

An easy way to cut the kernels off the cob is here. If fresh corn not available, you can substitute two 10-ounce packages of frozen corn. Of course, if you use frozen corn, you won't have cobs to put in the chowder while it simmers. That's OK. The cobs do give the chowder a deeper corn flavor, but it will still be delicious without that step. 

Father Curry's version uses 2 cups of light cream instead of the whole milk + heavy cream. (The only light cream at my local grocery contained chemical additives, so I decided that I would go additive-free with milk and heavy cream. See my post on the difference between heavy cream and whipping cream.) The whole milk/heavy cream ratio is basically equivalent to light cream, also known as table cream. 

Creamy Corn Chowder in honor of Father Rick Curry | Mother Would Know

Filed Under: Archives, Soups & Stews Tagged With: chicken stock, chowder, cold soup, corn, DC's Dog Tag Bakery, Dog Tag Bakery, soup

« DC’s Dog Tag Bakery
Jewish Style Sweet and Sour Brisket »

Comments

  1. Michelle says

    September 21, 2016 at 11:59 pm

    I just made a huge pot of corn chowder the other day! Its one of my favorite soups! So excited to have another version to try! As far as I’m concerned, you can’t have too many soup recipes come fall and winter!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      October 5, 2016 at 9:17 pm

      I’m a recent convert to corn chowder – now a huge fan too!

      Reply
  2. Faye says

    October 8, 2017 at 10:49 pm

    I’m planning to freeze the soup and re-heat when I want to serve them another day. Anything to watch out for?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      October 13, 2017 at 8:10 pm

      Faye, Typically when I make creamy soups, I don’t freeze the cream or milk because it tends not to do well when defrosted. In this recipe, I would make it through step 5 (pureeing half of the soup) and then freeze it. Once defrosted, I would add the milk, heavy cream, salt and Worchestershire sauce.

      Reply

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