Over the Weekend Recipe: Potato Corn Chowder

There's nothing like a rainy day where you can light a sweet smelling candle, curl up with a book, have something warm to eat and let coziness emanate throughout the room. 

With so many sweltering hot days in the Mid-Atlantic lately, a cool, wet day this last Sunday was an unexpected treat.  I had three ears of corn, an onion and a handful of potatoes left over from a produce box from Delaware. What better than to put them to use by making a thick, summer vegetable soup?

Potato Corn Chowder
(adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)

Ingredients:
3 ears of corn
4 medium red potatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 cups milk
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 flour
Pepper (or even cayenne) to taste

Start by cutting the corn off the cob and setting the kernels aside.  Put 4 cups of water in a large pot on med-high and toss in the cobs, season with salt and pepper.  Bring to boil, then let simmer for 30 minutes.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and once melted, add the chopped onions and sugar.  Cook until soft on medium-high heat, about two minutes.  Add the flour slowly and whisk together.  Cook for 5 minutes, whisking and stirring constantly. 

Remove corn cobs from the corn stock-water, then add the onion and flour mixture.  Next, add the milk, cream, corn and potatoes and stir well.  Raise heat to medium-high, bring to boil, then reduce heat and let simmer while covered on for 30 minutes.  Add a dash of cayenne, then salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy!

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