Zippy Corn Chowder

It's Michelle again. I went on a soup recipe rampage this winter, hoping to find some delicious soups my whole family liked. This is one of our successes. It is more of an adult soup because it's a little spicy, but you could add a little extra milk to the kids bowls if they don't like spicy. This recipe is adapted from the Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook. Although my recipe isn't diet!

You will need:

1-2 medium onions, chopped (depending on how much you love onion)
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
3 TB butter (or more....)
14 1/2 ounces chicken or vegetable broth
1 extra chicken boullion cube
2 large potatoes, cubed
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (be careful!)
2 tsp Dijon mustard (real Dijon mustard is heavenly)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or ground red pepper
3 C frozen corn
3 cups milk, divided
1/4 C all-purpose flour

Here's what to do:

In a large saucepan, saute the onions and bell peppers in the butter until both are tender. Add the broth, extra boullion cube and potatoes. (The original recipe only calls for broth, but I always add an extra cube for body and flavor.) Bring saucepan mixture to a boil. Reduce heat: cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Stir in jalapeno, mustard, salt, paprika and red pepper flakes or ground red pepper. Add corn and 2 1/2 C milk. Bring to a boil, stirring often.

Combine the flour and remaining milk in a separate container. Mix until smooth. Gradually add flour and milk to the soup mixture. Bring to a boil again. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Makes 2 quarts.

Providence:
This is a good food storage recipe. The addition of milk, butter and Dijon mustard makes it a little more expensive, but if you grow your own onions, potatoes and peppers you can cut the cost a lot. I buy frozen corn on sale for $1. We buy Dijon mustard from Jungle Jim's ($4) and we use one jar a year. You will likely have most of the spices on hand and spices are cheaper if bought in bulk. I don't have an estimate for the overall cost of this, but my guess is about $2.50, based on Ohio prices.

A few tips:
When cutting the jalapeno, be careful! Don't wipe your face, lips or eyes or you get a really nice tingly feeling. That's the best case scenario. I imagine in your eyes it wouldn't tingle.

Use the ground red pepper sparingly. I have never added 1/2 tsp. 1/4 tsp is plenty spicy for my family.

Heavy cream makes this absolutely delicious; however, it is not the most economical so milk will do.

The End: My husband loves this soup. I think it's great and my children think it's okay, but it can get a little spicy for my 4 yr old. I have not tried freezing it or using canned corn, but I imagine with some experimentation you could get a really good alternate recipe.


Enjoy!

P.S. Sorry I don't take step-by-step pictures.

Mama's Pumpkin Bread

This recipe has a lot of love in it.  Mama's told me the story once or twice about how she loved the flavor of one pumpkin loaf, and the moisture of another.  She wanted to stay true to family recipes but really sought perfection.  My friends, this is it.  Try it.

The last time we made quick bread, one could argue I "ruined" it by adding all sorts of healthy things.  Well, this time we're not going there.  We're staying pure and true to Mama's recipe.  

That said, you can make all the healthy alterations you want.  Add the bean puree and whole wheat flour and omit some of the sugar.  Just don't give it to your friends and tout it as the best pumpkin bread you've ever had.  That's not it.  This is it.

One of the best things about it is how easy to make it is, and it makes a lot, so then you're ready for holiday (or any day) gift-giving.

First, cream the shortening and sugar.  If you want to be really fancy you can use real butter (softened, of course).  I think Mama does that for her holiday gift loaves. :)

When your mixture is good and pale, mix in the rest of your wet ingredients.

And then the dries.  You can sift them together if you want, but I always just dump in the flour first and let the mixer "sift" it for me when it first starts to turn.

It smells like pumpkin pie.  You'll want to lick it.  Try to resist the urge.  By the way, you can mix in things at this point if you want, like chocolate chips.  :)  You can do nuts and raisins if you're really desperate to give your neighbors your best rendition of fruit cake.   I remember Mama doing that once or twice.  I wonder why? I never asked.

Divide it into greased pans.  This recipe will make 4 large loaves, 32 mini loaves, or 48 muffins.

Bake until the edges and top are getting beautifully browned and a knife/toothpick inserted comes out clean. Loaves bake for over an hour, mini loaves about 25 minutes, and muffins about 18 minutes.

When you pull them out of the oven, turn them out immediately onto a cooling rack.  Doing so will get you that perfect outside crust with a wonderfully-moist-but-not-to-dense center.

Mmm.  Eat one warm.  I'm on my second.  

Mama's Pumpkin Bread

1 1/3 cups shortening (or butter, or applesauce, or bean puree)
3 cups sugar (can reduce to 2 cups)
2 1/3 cups brown sugar (can reduce to 1 2/3 cup)
6 eggs
4 cups pumpkin puree (that's one large can)
1 1/3 cups water
6 2/3 cups flour (can do whole wheat)
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice

Cream shortening and sugars.  Add eggs, pumpkin and water and mix well.  Combine dry ingredients, then mix into wet ingredients.  Divide into greased pans and bake at 350.  Large loaves:  60 to 70 minutes; mini loaves:  25-30 minutes; muffins:  18 to 22 minutes.