Spicy Corn Chowder

Set aside 1/2 the frozen corn kernels in a bowl in the fridge. Put the remaing 2 cups of frozen corn into the vase of a high speed blender.  Add the milk to the corn in the blender. Blitz until you have what looks like a creamy corn shake. Set aside in the fridge until needed.

(Note: if you don't have a high speed blender, put the corn kernels and milk into a tall beaker and use an immersion blender) 

Over a medium-high flame, heat the butter, or oil in a 5 litre Dutch oven until melted. Add the onion, celery and peppers. Sprinkle with salt. Cook stirring 1 minute then add the bay leaf and whole dried chipotle pepper. Cook stirring another minute. Partially cover. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook stirring occasionally for 5-8 minutes more taking care that the vegetables don't color as they cook. When they are soft, mix in the quartered potatoes. Partially cover. Cook a further 5 minutes. 

Add the water or stock to the vegetables. Bring to a simmer over a medium flame. Turn heat to medium-low. Simmer 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough to be smashed against the sides of the pan. Add the reserved whole corn kernels from the fridge. Cook stirring for another 5 minutes, gently smashing some of the potatoes against the side of the pan to thicken the soup. Remove and discard the chipotle chili.  

Stir in the reserved corn milk mixture. Gently heat the soup through until it begins to barely simmer. Turn heat down to low. To keep the soup's consistency smooth and creamy, it is important to cook with gentle heat and not to let the chowder come to a hard boil. A hard boil will cause the milk to separate and make the soup look scummy.  Gently cook the chowder uncovered another 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. 

Serve the chowder ladled into bowls. Top each bowl with a dollop of Greek yogurt, and a sprinkling of fresh herbs to taste.  My favorites are chives, parsley, or fresh coriander.

 The green pepper and jalapeno approximate the flavor and mild spiciness of poblano peppers. If you can find poblano peppers, use one of those instead. 

You can use fresh corn to make the chowder. You'll need about 4 cobs to get enough kernels.  You can also use the stripped cobs as well to make a corn stock for the soup.  In a large pot add the stripped cobs with enough water to cover them. Add the dried chipotle pepper to the cobs (and not in step 2) plus salt to taste. Bring to a slow simmer for about 30 minutes  While it is simmering, prep the veg and do steps 1 + 2  of the recipe. By the time you need to add the stock in step 3, your corn stock will be ready. Discard the cobs and the chipotle, and use what you need. 

I keep Marigold vegetarian or vegan stock powder in my pantry to make veg stock on the fly It has a good yet unobtrusive flavor that doesn't overwhelm a dish.