Corn Chowder and Plum Crisp

We roasted corn recently and had a couple of ears left over. They have been sitting in the fridge asking me to make them into chowder. I love corn chowder, maybe it's the bacon we always crumbled on top when I was a kid. What's not to like when you crumble bacon on top of it?I started out using this recipe from Simply Recipes; however, I can't picture carrot or red pepper in my corn chowder, so I left them out. It seems to me that the corn takes care of the sweetness and other sweet items like carrots and red peppers aren't necessary.

And I have to have mushrooms in my chowder, they offer the nice earthy contrast to the sweetness for my taste buds.

I started out by frying 3 strips of bacon in a small fry pan.

When they were finished, or more than finished because I forgot about them, I set the bacon aside and poured the grease into a pot large enough for the chowder.

In the hot grease, I sauteed 1 diced small onion and 1 diced jalapeno for about 5 minutes. I added 6 sliced crimini mushrooms. I cooked this another 3 minutes or so. If I had had celery I would have added it too.

I shaved the kernels off the two left over cobs. I broke the cobs in halve and added them to the pot. The cobs are supposed to give off more corn flavor and help thicken the broth, I believe; however, I don't know if using the roasted corn reduces this effect.

With the cobs in the pot, I added 3 1/2C milk (I used the 2% I had left, about 3C, and whole milk). I also added a bay leaf and brought all of this to a gentle boil. I reduced the heat to warm to maintain a very light simmer and covered the pot. The recipe suggests cooking it for 30 minutes at this point. I was stalling at this point so I let it simmer very gently for nearly an hour.

Then I removed the cobs and the bay leaf and added 1 diced large red potato, 1t kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. I increased the heat and let this simmer for about 15 minutes.

(Then I had to turn off the heat and go rescue a friend whose truck broke down.) I added the corn (corn shaved off 2 cobs + 1C frozen corn) and 1/2t fresh thyme. I cooked this just long enough to warm the corn through. We ate the chowder with crumbled bacon on top!

For dessert we had this plum crumble, which was delicious. In fact, it sounds like breakfast this morning!

More Jam: peach and plum

In our fruit share this week we got blueberries, peaches, and red plums. I also got an extra 1/2 peck of peaches. I had the intention of making peach butter but I think I need even more peaches for that adventure. I think after the hours and hours of cooking, I think my 1/2 peck of peaches may result in a spoonful of peach butter. Not really, but for all that effort I think I need to start with a bit more fruit. So what is plan B? Jam, of course!12 peaches + 1 1/2C sugar + 2T lemon juice + 25 minutes of boiling = JAM!

I was thinking of experimenting with some spices or some fresh ginger but I wanted to try straight up peach jam first. I think it is a bit runny but pretty tasty! (Almost as good as clotted cream on my scone!)

19 red plums (1 1/2 lbs) + 1 1/2C sugar + 1/2 a lemon = JAM!

I cooked the half a lemon with the plums in hopes that it would help the jam set better.

I think it worked out as I think the plum jam is more jammy than the peach.

And the blueberries, well they are tasty by the handful and on a bowl of cereal if they make it that far!