Chicken Corn Chowder

This is my family's favorite soup, when my daughter first moved into the dorm, I froze individual servings in gladware and stocked her dorm room freezer with them, she said the taste of home helped her during her initial homesickness. It's fresh and light tasting, not starchy at all. The soup is thickened by pulsing half the corn kernels to a paste in a food processor. Served with a salad, and you have a meal that will satisy everyone, even your pickey eaters. It's a recipe I adapted in the early '90s from the cookbook, Blue Corn & Chocolate.

Serves 6

2 Tbsp butter
2 large leeks, mostly white parts, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, with leaves, diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups or 4 ears of fresh sweet corn kernels, you can use frozen, but fresh is best
4 cups chicken stock
several good grinds of black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup cooked, diced chicken
1/2 tsp dried sweet marjoram
1/2 cup light cream

Process half the sweet corn kernels in a food processor, ’til they are a coarse paste (do not puree), reserve the other half as is, to add much later in the cooking process). In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low to moderate heat. Add the leeks and carrots and sauté slowly, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are wilted, about 10 minutes. Stir in the celery and the potato and continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.

To the sautéd vegetables add the processed corn, the stock, the pepper, sugar and marjoram. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat and cook for about 20 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are tender. Stir in the remaining corn kernels and the chicken, bring back to a simmer and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.  Add the cream, and stir for 5 minutes or less (you want the soup to be hot), sprinkle with fresh parsley, if you wish. Served as leftovers, it tastes even better the next day and freezes well.