Lighter Corn Chowder

When corn is on sale for 6 ears for only $1, I did what any self respecting person would do - buy way more ears of corn than any normal human being could ever eat.

Which is why I was so thankful that in the August 2011 issue of Cook's Illustrated there was a recipe for Corn Chowder, and a lighter version at that.  My waistline and running legs thank you.  It still starts with absolutely delicious bacon though.  Mmmm bacon.

The recipe overall is very easy - the hardest part was scraping the pulp off of the ears of corn, as I kept smacking my knife into the side of the bowl.  The next hardest part was not slicing too deep into the corn kernels, so that some pulp would remain on the cob!  If you've never sliced corn directly off of the cob before, just beware - it's a very dirty job, as the corn kernels tend to fly ALL over the place.  The best trick I've learned - cut the corn in half, so there's a flat end.  Invert a smaller bowl inside a larger bowl.  Place the corn on top of the smaller bowl, and slice down - the corn will fly directly into the larger bowl, and it's the only way to keep your sanity.

Fresh corn is essential - do not use canned, although I'd wonder how it'd taste in the winter with canned corn and using the "corn water" as a pulp juice replacement.  It probably won't have that great corn flavor though.

I loved the corn flavor of this recipe, the tons of corn, the bacon, and the use of half and half.  It's a great chowder, but not too heavy for the summer.

Eat all that beautiful summer corn!  Cook this chowder!

Do not be alarmed if, before adding the half and half, your soup is very brownish.  That's normal.  I think.

Lighter Corn Chowder from Cooks Illustrated, August 2011
Serves 6 (I halved this recipe)

Ingredients:

• 8 ears corn, husks and silk removed
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 4 slices of bacon, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme (I used dried.)
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 5 cups water
• 3/4 pounds red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cup half and half
• Sugar (if your corn isn't very sweet)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1.  Cut kernels from corn and set aside (you should have five to sic cups of kernels.) 

2.  Holding cobs over second bowl, use back of a butter knife to firmly scrape any remaining pulp on cobs into bowls, resulting in about two to two and a half cups of pulp.  Transfer pulp to center of a kitchen towel and squeeze tightly until dry.  Discard pulp in towel and set corn juice aside (you should have about 2/3 cup of juice.)

3.  Melt butter in a Dutch oven (or nice sturdy pot, like I used) over medium heat.  Add onion, bacon, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened and edges are beginning to brown, for 8-10 minutes.  

4.  Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

5.  Whisking constantly, gradually add water and bring to a boil.

6.  Add corn kernels and potatoes, return to a simmer.

7.  Reduce heat to medium low and cook until potatoes have softened, 15-18 minutes.

8.  Process 2 cups chowder in blender until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Return puree to chowder.  Add half and half and return to simmer.

9.  Remove pot from heat and stir in reserved corn juice.

10.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, and up to 1 tablespoon sugar.  Serve, sprinkling with basil.

Spaghetti with Summer Vegetable Sauce

Borders is officially going out of business, which means one thing for me:

Run into the store and hope that they still have cooking magazines for 40% off.

I lucked out - I managed to grab Cooks Illustrated, Cooks Country and the Food Network mags.  SCORE!  I also managed to grab the Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook (in the bargain bin plus another 20% off) and the Williams-Sonoma Cooking at Home book (also in the bargain bin!!) so overall, a good haul.  The books are still only at 20% off, so for books not in the bargain bin, it might be cheaper on Amazon.

Browsing the August/September issue of Cooks Country, I am immediately struck by the Spaghetti with Summer Vegetable Sauce recipe.  Not only does it use fresh, seasonal vegetables, it is extremely simple, and is listed as one of their 30 minute meals - due to the use of store-bought pesto.

This dish is extremely simple - cut up veggies, cook until softened, boil pasta in the meantime, combine in one pot, add pesto, serve.  It really is that easy, and that delicious!

Just a quick note on the vegetables - I peeled the squash and zucchini.  It's probably preferable that you don't, because the vegetables won't get mushy as quick, but since I didn't buy organic vegetables, I usually take the skin off.

Why does pasta photograph so weird?

Spaghetti with Summer Vegetable Sauce from Cooks Country, August/September 2011

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used 2 and 1 tablespoon olive oil)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
• 1 large zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved (I used one bag of Nature Sweet tomatoes - exactly 12 ounces and I had a coupon!)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used chicken broth)
• salt and pepper
• 1 pound spaghetti (I used campagnelle)
• 6 tablespoons basil pesto (about 3 ounces.  I bought a six ounce container, and used half of it.)

Directions:

1.  Bring water to in a boil in a large pot.

2.  Melt butter in a 12 inch skillet (believe me, you need a large skillet) over medium high heat.  Add onion and cook until softened, about five minutes.  

3.  Stir in squash and zucchini and stir until softened, about 3-5 minutes.

4.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

5.  Stir in tomatoes, wine (or broth), 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Cook until liquid is reduced, about 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6.  Meanwhile, add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water and cook, stirring often, until al dente.  Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water, and drain pasta.  Return pasta to pot.

7.  Toss vegetable mixer and pesto with pasta, adding reserved pasta water to thin the sauce as needed (I only needed a little splash of water.)

Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Homemade Pita Chips

If I die young, wrap me in pita chips... lay me on a bed of hummus...

Oh, the song doesn't go that way?  Phooey.

I love pita chips.  LOVE them.  I love them even more if they're still slightly warm and crispy, freshly made.  Yes, you don't have to settle for pita chips out of a bag, just make your own!  It's SO easy!

Homemade pita chips by me

Mmmm crispy goodness.

Ingredients:

• pita bread
• olive oil or cooking spray
• salt

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400.

2.  Cut pita bread into wedges.  From one pita, I can get six wedges.  I also rip them in half again so I get more - I like my pita chips a bit thin.  If you like the thicker chips, then do not tear in half!

3.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray (I'm OCD, I line baking sheets with non stick aluminum foil first.)  Scatter pita chips on the baking sheet.  If you don't use cooking spray, scatter pita chips on a baking sheet and lightly (very lightly!) drizzle with olive oil.  I prefer cooking spray - easier distribution of grease.

4.  Lightly sprinkle salt on the chips.

5.  Bake for 5-7 minutes.  If you start to smell the chips, they're overdone.

Serve warm or store in an airtight container.  Serve with hummus or any of your favorite dips.

Hummus.  Or yummus.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I confess.  I don't really like chocolate chip cookies.

They're usually too sweet, the chocolate doesn't taste very good, they wind up rock hard the next day, name it, I'll find an excuse.

However, this is probably the recipe I make an exception, although I still limit my intake since there's only so much chocolate I can handle at one time.  I love how soft the cookies remain, even after three to four days.  The ingredients are so simple, and the recipe is so easy.

My final musing:  use Ghiradelli chocolate chips.  They do not harden like a certain yellow bag after a few days - they stay deliciously soft.  They also taste so much better than the yellow bag.

My absolute final musing:  I'm not sure how I messed up the recipe this time - I think the butter may have been too soft.  My cookies spread a lot more than I expected.  At first I thought maybe it was my butter (I used Trader Joe's) but I doubt the water content of the TJ's butter is that different from Safeway butter.

My utterly final final musing:  You can edit the sugar to 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar but I like the "deeper" taste of more brown sugar.

My James Brown style finale musing: I used eggs from Clover Stornetta Farms, which is a great "local" farm.  I'm really starting to get into more organic, local, sustainable vegetables, fruit and dairy.  Next, I would like to get their butter.  Support your local, family owned dairy farm.  I like to pretend my Ghiradelli chocolate chips are made in CA, but at least they are headquartered here.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from Martha Stewart
Yield:  about 3 dozen

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside.

3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter with both sugars, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.

4.  Reduce speed to low.  Add salt, vanilla, and eggs.  Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute.  Add flour mixture, mix until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

5.  Drop by the heaping tablespoon onto baking sheets.  Bake until brown around the edges, about 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven, let cool on the baking sheets 1-2 minutes (I let them sit for about five.)  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

6.  Store in an airtight container between layers of parchment for up to one week.

Black Bean and Mushroom Burgers

Healthy eating isn't easy.

Heck, I'm not even sure how "healthy" this recipe is, but it does have black beans, which are a good source of fiber.  And mushrooms do have some health benefits, but not as many as say a nice leafy, green vegetable.  However, this recipe is vegetarian (heck, vegan even if you get the right beans and vegan bread) and if you're looking to cut back on your meat consumption but still enjoy a burger every now and again, this recipe is a very good substitute.

I won't however, replace burgers in my overall diet.  I still like meat.  A lot.  I'm just very careful about the consumption of beef, in particular the serving size.

The original recipe uses a food processor.  I'm here to tell you  it's not necessary, but very helpful.  So if you don't have a food processor within easy reach, just give yourself a little extra time to crumble the bread.

The overall taste is really good - it doesn't taste chalky, it has flavor, and it's way better than any veggie burger you buy frozen and microwave.  It also isn't difficult to make, and when picking black beans, pick a can that has a low amount of sodium - always watch your salt intake!  A huge plus - this "patty" doesn't shrink at all while cooking - yay!

Yes, it remained deliciously large.

Black Bean and Mushroom Burgers, courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker.
Makes 4 burgers.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil (I used olive oil) plus more for brushing
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 4 slices whole wheat sandwich bread, lightly toasted (I used two slices whole grain white bread, plus one double fiber Orowheat English Muffin because I needed to use them up!)
• 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed (always rinse the beans to get them clean)
• 2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• English muffins, pita pockets, or buns, to serve.
• Salsa, sour cream, other items you like on your "burgers" to serve.

Directions:

1.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat, add the oil and add the onion.  Cook 3-4 minutes, or until golden.

2.  Add the mushrooms, garlic, cumin and paprika.  Stir and cook until the mushrooms have released their juices, about 6-7 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3.  ORIGINAL RECIPE DIRECTIONS:  Tear toasted bread and place in food processor.  Process until broken down into crumbs.  Pour the crumbs into a medium sized bowl (mixing bowls are a good idea.)  Add the mushroom mixture and beans to the food processor, pulse until combined but not smooth - leave some chunky bits.  Add to bowl with bread crumbs, add the cheese, and season with salt and pepper.

3a.  MY WAY:  Tear the toasted bread into smaller pieces and continue tearing down until crumb like in a medium sized mixing bowl.  When bread pieces get too small to tear, rub the pieces between your hands to promote crumbling.  Pour black beans into a small bowl, and using a fork, smash the beans.  (You must use a fork.  Do not use a spoon - believe me, they don't smash.)  Add beans to the bread crumbs.  Add the mushroom mixture, cheese, and season with a little salt and pepper.  (If your beans have a lot of sodium, I'd ease up on the salt.)  You might not think the mixture will combine, but it actually comes together very well.  I thought I would need an egg to promote mixing, but it wasn't needed!  It's probably due to the fresh bread - do not take the shortcut of using dried bread crumbs.

4.  Combine the mixture and divide into four portions.  Create four patties with moist hands (or gloves, like me.)  Lightly brush each side with canola oil.  (I wound up greasing the skillet, and then spraying each side with cooking spray.)  

5.  In a skillet over medium heat, cook each patty for 5-6 minutes per side.

My T-Fal skillet is awesome because I found one made in France!

6.  Serve on toasted English muffins, buns, pitas, however you want to eat them (or just eat them as a patty!)  Serve with your favorite burger fixins.

I'll take a side of Kettle Potato Chips.