I'm not saying bacon is overrated (heck no!) but I'm not sure it adds as much to soups as it does to other dishes. When a soup calls for bacon to be cooked in -and not sprinkled on top at the end- I always find it kind of ho-hum. It seems to get lost and doesn't add a strong savory or meaty flavor like ham or sausage does. All I see on Pinterest when I look up corn chowder is bacon, bacon bacon. So it was clear I needed to invent my own.
After this soup I had an epiphany. Soup is easy. Easy to change, easy to whip up rather quickly and 100% open to customization. It's just stuff in a pot with a liquid. You can do anything you want, the world is your oyster. Just do yourself a favor and keep a pen and paper near by so you can note what you are doing in case it's so good you know you need to make it a million more times.
The old frozen food that started this killer soup. Some really really old frozen Olathe corn cut from the cob and some frozen kielbasa- mega pack from Costco we are trying to get through. Not a stunning start.
Also this old bendy celery! (Stay with me, I promise the transformation will make you realize how awesome soup is at taking almost compost and making it delicious).
This average sized (not too old) Russet potato.
Chopped into small cubes.
This stolen sprig of rosemary. So I totally snapped this off a rosemary plant at a friend's Halloween party and put it in my purse. My phone and purse smelled so good for a week. When I got home I wrapped the base in a wet paper towel and put it in the fridge. It's still going strong.
I roughly chopped about a tablespoon.
Ok, first step is kind of skipped. I diced up a yellow onion (about 2 cups) and sauteed that in the soup pot with a little olive oil. Once softened, I tossed in the diced celery and rosemary and cooked until that was supple. Once those veggies were soft I poured in 2 cups of chicken stock and the frozen corn and brought back up to heat.
You'll want to parboil your potatoes on the side. I actually did mine in the microwave because I started them late.
While all of this is happening, or before any of it happens, grill a whole package (1 lb) of kielbasa. Grill it through so it's roasty and crispy.
Slice that into disks and cut the disks in quarters. Do the whole thing (besides what you nibble while preparing) and set aside.
Once your soup is back up to temp and simmering, use an immersion blender. I blended this randomly, not until it's totally smooth. Just do a little and stop before everything is blended. This gives a richness to the soup but retains a rustic texture that is pleasing. Be very careful while blending hot liquid.
You can see there are still chunks and pieces of corn. Add the half and half/milk combo, bring back up to temp.
The dairy will make the soup much whiter! Stir in the chopped kielbasa, salt and pepper.
Mmmm.
Ok, these are not garnishes. A garnish is something that lazy or hurried people skip because really who is looking at their dinner. These are ingredients. They finish the soup. You CANNOT skip them.
For two people we used 1 jalapeno, diced, and 3 small green onions, diced. I broke off and crumbled about 2oz cotija cheese. Feta could be substituted. But has to be a firmer salty cheese. Cotija is my obsession. When I buy it, I just want to take bites out of this salty delicious cheese.
Top the plated soup with a generous helping of jalapeno, green onions and 1oz cotija cheese. This soup stays good in the fridge for about a week and if anything, just tastes better over time. So even if only two of you are eating this (it would serve about 4 I think) you'll be fighting over the left overs!
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