Cold-weather Chowder

I live in the south, but there’s snow on the ground today. We’re all cold, it seems. To help warm you up, I’m sharing a recipe courtesy of the New England Soup Factory. The recipe for Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder can be made vegetarian by switching the chicken stock for veggie stock. And, if you froze some fresh corn from your garden, throw that in instead of the canned corn. Yum.

Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder
from New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker

• 7 large sweet potatoes, peeled, divided
• 4T butter
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Spanish onion, peeled and diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 8C chicken stock
• 5 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 C packed brown sugar
• 1 T ground coriander
• 2 C heavy cream
• 1 can (16oz) whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can (16oz) can creamed corn
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a 3-qt saucepan, bring 1 1/2 quarts of salted water to a boil over high heat. Dice 2 of the sweet potatoes and add to the boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain in a colander. Rinse with cold water and set aside. Roughly chop the remaining 5 sweet potatoes

In a stockpot, melt the butter over medium high heat, Add the garlic, onion, celery, carrots and the 5 chopped sweet potatoes. Sauté for 10 minutes. Add the stock and brig to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sweet potatoes are soft and tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, coriander and cream. Puree the soup in the pot using a hand blender or working in batches with a regular blender until smooth and creamy. Add the reserved sweet potatoes, whole kernel corn and creamed corn. Return the soup to the stove and simmer an additional 5 to 7 minutes. season with salt and pepper.

If you love to make your own fresh soup, check out the New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation’s Best Purveyor of Fine Soup by Marjorie Druker.

(Image and recipe courtesy New England Soup Factory)