Comfort Cooking - Corn, Bacon, Potato Chowder

It can be hard to get back into cooking after the holidays - Here I am acting as if they just happened when nearly a month has flown by...

I decided to make a couple different soup-style meals, which are great at using up leftovers and can be frozen for those dismal nights in January when you want to crawl under the covers and hide.

I will admit that I'm not a world-class chef, but I can follow a recipe and have everything turn out ok (most of the time). For this chowder I looked at a few different recipes but wasn't sold on any specific one so I went off script and improvised a bit.

Corn, Bacon, Potato Chowder

1 Yellow Onion, chopped

1 Red Pepper, chopped

4-6 Yukon Gold Potatoes, diced

2c. water

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

5-7 slices of bacon

2 cans Whole Kernel Corn, drained

1 can Lite Coconut Milk

1/4c. Flour

In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the onion and red pepper in 1-2 tablespoons of butter until soft. Add the potatoes, water, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pricked with a fork. The potatoes will continue to soften after this so it's important not to overcook them at this point. While the potatoes simmer, cook the bacon in a frying pan, drain, cool, and chop. Reduce heat and add the corn, bacon, and coconut milk. Mix flour with 1/2 cup of water and add to the chowder. Cook, over medium heat, until the chowder thickens, 2-5 minutes. 

This chowder turned out really well, and received rave reviews. Overall it was really easy to make and would be even simpler with leftover ham instead of bacon (I loath cooking bacon). I've also thought about substituting one of the cans of whole corn for a can of cream corn and regular milk instead of coconut milk. 

Oh the possibilities, I'll definitely make it again!

Enjoy!

Calli