I happen to hate creamed corn. I was not at all excited when I accidentally opened a can. Thinking I grabbed a can of kernel corn from the cabinet, I didn’t hesitate to open it to use on a taco salad I was making for dinner. Blech. It occurred to me to toss it down the disposal, but that kind of waste is really unconscionable. So, I started to think about how I could put this incidental creamed corn to use.
The first thought that popped in my mind was to make corn chowder. I do love chowder of just about any variety, and if you read my blog with any regularity, you know that I am on an evaporated milk kick—the perfect ingredient to add creaminess to soups and chowders.
I checked the pantry for some spuds. Boo! Knobby eyes were protruding from the couple of potatoes I had on hand. So, no go on the potatoes. I needed a plan b, so I started looking through my cabinets for some inspiration. And then it hit: boxed Au Gratin potatoes! Just the thing to add texture and flavor to corn chowder.
First I crushed the potatoes while they were still in their cellophane bag. I wanted small bite-sized pieces, equivalent to a small dice.
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I put the potatoes in a medium sized saucepan with about 2 cups of water and brought everything to a boil. My goal was to see if I could get the potatoes tender enough for creamy chowder. It took about 20 minutes until the potatoes were as soft as I wanted them to be. Then, I added the seasoning packet, which helped thicken up the water and potatoes and add a cheesy flavor. I added my can of creamed corn and about 8 ounces of evaporated milk and stirred. I let the soup simmer on low for about 15 minutes, until it was consistent in texture. I added some freshly cracked black pepper, to give the soup a slight bit of heat. Then, I added about ¼ cup of grated 2% cheddar cheese to make the soup as creamy and decadent as possible. When the soup cooled, I packaged it in individually sized containers and my husband and I took them for lunch during the week.
[View:http://www.flickr.com/photos/a-piece-of-cake/3872984374/in/set-72157622190350890/]
I still don’t like creamed corn on its own, but as the basis for chowder, it was a real hit!