Soup Week: Best ever Corn Chowder

I know, I KNOW. I've only been doing this for a couple of months, and ALREADY another corn chowder recipe. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I love this soup so much, I'm constantly trying out new corn chowder recipes. This though has to be one of my favourites so far. Perfectly spicy, lots of veggies and corn, and the bacon adds lots of extra flavour!

We just got back from two weeks out of town, with a week spent beside the lake and visiting one of our family member's farm. Seriously, who wouldn't want to look out at this every day?










Well, the last one isn't from the farm, but it is one of the areas we visited. I miss it already. So pretty, so relaxing, so fabulous. Oh, and lots of fresh organic vegetables and herbs right out of the garden. We were lucky enough to be able to bring some home with us, and so they immediately went into both the corn chowder and the borscht I made (both over the weekend). Again, lots of fun for me! This recipe I used for this soup was adapted from this one I saw on For the love of cooking. Her original recipe is delicious, and this one has even more of the flavours I love and was a huge hit for me. Can't get enough, and you won't be able to either.

Corn Chowder
Adapted slightly from For the Love of Cooking
Serves about 8

4 pieces of bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 hot banana pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 russet potato, diced
1 yam or sweet potato, diced
4 cups chicken stock
3 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves only) or 1 tsp dried
1 bay leaf
4 cups corn (fresh or frozen)
3 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook bacon, and set aside.

2. Saute onions, celery, carrots and peppers until soft (about 8 minutes). Add garlic and thyme and cook for about another 45 seconds, stirring constantly.

3. Add stock, both potatoes, corn, bay leaf and salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Once it's reached a boil, in a separate bowl, ladle the hot soup into the milk until the milk is warm, then transfer into the hot soup. Simmer (being careful not to let it come to a boil), and cook until the potatoes are soft (about 10 minutes or so).

4. If you like a smoother soup, blend until smooth, but I much prefer the chunkier version (make sure to remove the bay leaf!). Mix in the reserved bacon (or use to garnish), and enjoy!