This recipe adds smoky and spicy flavours to a traditional corn chowder, breathing new life into an old dish. You can spice it up a bit more with some Jalapenos or extra hot sauce, whatever you feel like! If you’ve recently had a barbecue and grilled some corn, strip the kernels off and use that for the soup, or grill it just for the recipe. Either way it’ll taste amazing, but I like to do this with the grilled corn sliced right off the cob!
Ingredients:
Serves 8
>2 tbsp oil
>6 slices bacon, chopped
>1 onion, chopped
>2 medium chicken breasts, chopped
>2 stalks celery, chopped
>2 carrots, peeled and chopped
>1 tbsp paprika
>2-3 tbsp Cajun seasoning
>1 large roasted red pepper, chopped
>3-4 ears of corn, roasted and cut off the ear
>1-2 cups chopped peeled potatoes
>1 tsp garlic
>2 tbsp chopped parsley
>Dash of mesquite smoke liquid
>2 cups chicken stock
>Water to cover
>Drop or two of yellow food coloring
>Splash of Louisiana hot sauce
1You should start by sweating the bacon and butter in a large soup pot on medium high heat, stirring frequently to break up the bacon. Once the pan is coated and the bacon is nicely browned, add the chicken, onions, carrots, and celery and seasonings. Saute until the chicken is slightly browned and the onions are translucent. This is where you’ll be creating a lot of your flavor, so really take your time with this step and don’t be too eager to add the other ingredients.
2At this point add in the roasted pepper, potatoes, garlic and finally the grilled corn. About 2 cups of frozen corn will work too so long as you add it a bit earlier than you would grilled corn so that the corn will have plenty of time to cook and soften. Saute the mixture another 5 minutes or so to heat everything up and get it coated in all the smokey, delicious flavors you created in the pan. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
3Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, letting the soup simmer for about an hour. Serve hot. You can garnish with some more grilled corn, bacon, or even a grilled or roasted chili pepper if you want.
