Warm & Wonderful Corn Chowder

Much to my chagrin, Tim doesn't like soup. Tim is a great sport and he'll eat whatever I make without any complaints, but when I ask him, he'll tell me he "doesn't prefer soup." Every time it comes up, I wail something along the lines of, "But I loooooove soup! Why don't you like soup?!?" He always says he prefers to chew his dinner. I don't know why I take it so personally.

I've convinced myself that someday he will change his mind, so I continue to try different soup recipes regularly (usually using less of the liquid base to make it more chunky and less soupy) and hope to gently lull him over to the land of soup-lovers.

This delicious, warm, wonderful, chunky, hearty, spicy corn chowder is one of the exceptions. Every time I set this soup on the table, I get nothing but great feedback, even from my non-soup-loving hubby. This soup is great for a ladies' lunch or a Sunday dinner on a cold winter day. Put it in a bread bowl and your life will be forever changed.

I've had a few friends ask for this recipe lately, so here it is:

"Chunky Corn Chowder"

- 5 strips of bacon
- 30 oz can corn
- 15 oz can cream corn
- 8 green onions
- 5 potatoes
- 2 tbsp flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 oz can chopped green chilies
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- Cooked, shredded chicken (optional)

- In a large stock pot, fry the bacon pieces until crisp. Remove from the pan, leave the drippings, and set aside.

- Peel and chop the potatoes into bite sized chunks. Slice the green onions very thin and separate the greens from the whites.

- Place the potatoes and the white scallion pieces into the stock pot and cook over medium heat until the scallions have softened (about 2 minutes).

- Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute.

- Pour in the milk, chicken stock, Old Bay, thyme, parsley, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add corn, chicken (if using) and green chilies. Cook over low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes.

- Garnish with scallion greens, bacon, and cheddar cheese and serve.

This is the perfect soup to warm you up on a cold night. The cayenne gives it a bit of a kick, so reduce or omit the cayenne if you're not into the spice. Adding chicken will make it a pretty complete meal. If you really want to throw caution to the wind, use heavy cream instead of milk. You won't regret it.

If you make it, let me know how you like it!