Corn Chowder

My childhood was filled with chowder. 

Although I had the good fortune of being born in New Orleans, I spent my early years with my mother and sister on the coast of Maine.  We lived in a small port town called “Rockland,” which, as many locals have told me, is the “Schooner Capital of the World.”  

(It’s true.  Look it up.)

Rockland is a fascinating city with red-bricked downtown shops, museums, and inns all along a heavily populated waterfront stuffed full of every kind of boat.  Rockland’s coast is rocky and blue, and it wasn’t until I moved to the southern United States that I realized most roads didn’t have waterfront on one side of them or snowy landscapes from December to April.  But, in Rockland, they do.

Pictured: the view from a friend’s window near Rockland, Maine (Christmas, 2010).

These early years instilled in me the best food traditions: an appreciation for coastal living and food, especially the way New England chefs do it.  Unlike the spicier food traditions of south Louisiana, coastal southern Maine is all lobster, chowder, and whoopie pies (apparently, now its “official” dessert).  

When I would watch my mother cooking during the holidays, more often than not, she’d be bringing milk to a boil with haddock and clams, pouring cream over potatoes and sprinkling bay leaves into her broth before returning the lid, and letting time go to work.  Chowder is something I’ve always eaten and loved, but you can’t find it anywhere in south Louisiana unless it’s from a can.

This week, the weird, rainy, post-holiday weather has made me nostalgic for mom’s clam, oyster, or fish chowder.  Not having these resources immediately on hand, I turned to the large quantities of corn in my fridge (an impulse buy because the kernels were so yellow and pretty) and improvised on this past recipe.  

Corn Chowder may not be my mother’s soup, but it certainly inspires some similar tastes and sights.  Stuffed with roasted vegetables–the Cajun holy trinity (onions, bell peppers, and celery), jalapeños, corn, and potatoes–it’s a vegetarian take on a seafood classic.  Creamy and a little bit spicy, Corn Chowder blends the sensibilities of my childhood menus with the subtle spiciness and flavor of Cajun cooking that I’ve come to love.

Pictured: inspired by the classic New England chowders my mother used to make, this vegetarian version featuring corn is creamy and spicy.

So, please dig in and enjoy whether it’s snowing or raining in your part of the country.  And, as per my New Year’s resolution for Clearly Delicious, enjoy the YouTube video showing the chowder being made from prep to finish.  Here, I make Corn Chowder in under 4 minutes (although the process notably takes a good 50 minutes overall).

The video is backed up by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s “Love is Here to Stay.”  I always listen to old time-y jazz when I’m cooking (I guess it aids in the soothing process I associate with bringing soup to a boil or simmering a roast), and I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

This summer, I’m looking forward to spending two months back in my coastal hometown, working on my photography and getting my hands dirty as I process lobsters and haddock with the Rockland fisherman community.  

Until then, here’s a little soup.

Corn Chowder

Yield: 6 servings

Calories: 184.6 (see here for full nutritional information)

Prep Time: 20 to 25 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

This recipe is a variation of a previous chowder recipe using corn on Clearly Delicious (here).  For the new version, I’ve included a little kick with the addition of chopped jalapeños and increased the broth so it’s more soupy and less chunky like the first one.  I’ve also revised cooking times and made the process shorter.

Ingredients:

*1 celery rib, sliced thinly

*1/2 onion, chopped

*1 red potato, cut into 1-inch pieces

*2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped

*1 green bell pepper, cored, stemmed, and chopped

*3 ears of corn, kernels removed from cob

*1/2 cup sliced carrots

*2 tablespoons butter, plus more butter or cooking oil as necessary

*3 1/2 cups whole milk, plus more as necessary

*3-5 bay leaves

*1 teaspoon thyme

*1 teaspoon oregano

*Salt and pepper, to taste

1.) Prepare celery, onion, potato, jalapeños, pepper, corn, and carrots.  Set aside.

Watch video (above) through minutes 2:20 for instructional help with these steps.

2.) Melt butter over medium-high heat and add onions.  Cook onions for five minutes or until translucent and browned.

3.) Add vegetables except potato and corn.  Coat in butter (add more butter or cooking oil as necessary) and season with salt and pepper.  Roast vegetables for an additional five minutes.

4.) Add corn, potatoes, milk, and spices to pot.  Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

Serve chowder with crusty bread (or, oyster crackers) and enjoy.  Makes 6 servings.

–Helana Brigman

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