Roasted Corn and Chicken Chowder

I have a subscription to the Food Network Magazine. I often open it up in the mornings and scan through recipes for new dinner ideas. I will be honest. Many times I look at the ingredients list, and know that I will never make it because it calls for many items that I don’t keep on hand. 

However, the Roasted Corn and Chicken Chowder in the July/August 2015 issue struck my fancy.

Looking through the fridge, I substituted a few ingredients. First, instead of the whole milk the recipe called for I used skim milk and a touch of half and half. I also added extra chicken and some left over rice that I had in the fridge so it would be more appealing to my husband.

One thing I would do differently if I could, is grill the corn. There is also roasted frozen corn at the supermarket which I may try as a substitute in the future.

This soup was thick and creamy, making it great for bread dipping. The chicken rice, and sweet potato were accented by the thyme. It was a great summer soup meal.

Ingredients

2 ears of corn, husked

2 tablespoons of butter

6 scallions, sliced

1 celery stalk, sliced

1 large sweet potato peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons of dried thyme

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

5 cups water

¼ cup cornmeal

3 cups shredded chicken breast

1 cup white rice cooked

½ cup skim milk

2 tablespoons half and half

Method

1. Preheat the broiler. Place ears of corn on a flat rimmed pan. Roast the corn underneath the broiler, turning every few minutes until the corn has nicely browned. Set aside and let cool. Once cooled, cut the corn from the cob.

2.  Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the scallions, celery sweet potatoes thyme cayenne salt, and pepper. Cook for three minutes. Sprinkle in cornmeal and cook until toasted, about 1 minute. Add water and stir in the corn. Turn heat up high until it soup simmers, then adjust accordingly to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft.

3. Reduce the heat to medium low, and stir in chicken, rice, milk, and half and half. Heat for three minutes, or until chicken is warmed through and soup has reached desired consistency.