Vegetable Corn Chowder

The veggies in the chowder. 

I'm always glad to get the Wednesday issues of The News and Observer and The New York Times, because in both newspapers a section is devoted to food and cooking.  This week in the N&O there was a recipe for Vegetable Corn Chowder from the popular cookbook 100 Days of Real Food, by NC blogger Lisa Leake.

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I am beginning to think of soup for supper.  Here's the recipe:

Veggie Corn Chowder

3 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

1 medium onion, diced

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

3 large stalks celery, diced

5 cups corn kernel, (fresh, frozen or canned)

1 tsp salt (I omit this)

Cayenne pepper to taste

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 cups milk (or half and half)

Melt  the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and keep whisking until the mixture darkens but does not burn, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the onion, carrot and celery and stir occasionally until the vegetables soften, 5 to 6 minutes.  Add the corn, salt and pepper and cook stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour in the stock and milk and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer 10 minutes, until thickened.

Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree.  Add pureed soup back to the pot.  Ladle into bowls and serve warm, or you can freeze in individual portions for later. 

Yield 6 servings

Dice the carrot, celery and onion.

Three cups of corn kernels. 

Two cups of chicken broth. 

Mix the flour with the butter. 

Add the veggies and corn. 

Add the broth and the milk and simmer. 

Ready for supper. 

We enjoyed a bowl of this for supper the other day.

Glazed Carrots with a Taste of Cinnamon

We like carrots at our house---raw, in soups, in salads, in cakes or simply boiled or roasted.  The other night I wanted to have cooked carrots as a side dish, but with a slightly different twist.  I found this recipe by Elise in Simply Recipes. These would be great at Thanksgiving as suggested by Elise.  But we liked them as a different side dish for our non-holiday meal.

Maple Orange Glazed Carrots

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds

One pound of carrots.

Peel carrots.

Cut into rounds.

        2 Tbsp unsalted butter
        1/2 teaspoon salt ( I omitted the salt.)
        1/4 cup maple syrup
        1/3 cup orange juice
        1/2 teaspoon orange zest
        Pinch cinnamon

Method

1 In a large, wide sauté pan, heat the butter on medium heat until melted. Add the carrots and toss to coat. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the maple syrup. Cook for a minute more, then add the orange juice. Cover the pan and cook for 3 more minutes.

Toss carrots to coat in butter.

Add maple syrup.

 

Add orange juice.

2 Uncover the pan and increase the heat to medium high. Stir the carrots occasionally, and cook until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.
3 Sprinkle cinnamon over the carrots, and stir in the orange zest.

Add cinnamon and orange zest.

Ready to serve.

This made for a delicious side dish.  I cooked the carrots a little longer so that the carrots were caramelized.