Potato Cheese & Corn Chowder: A Winter Comfort Food

Now that winter is in full swing, I thought I'd share my favorite winter comfort food recipe just in time for all those winter storms we may or may not get. No matter what, it's an amazingly easy and delicious recipe.

I toyed around with the recipe in the old Better Homes and Gardens recipe book and found ways to improve upon it, developing my own version of chowder. My version is pretty much foolproof. In the BH&G recipe, the milk is one of the first ingredients added, and unfortunately, 99% of the time, I burned or scalded the milk, which ruined the entire batch. My version saves that step until it's safe to go into the mix.

Ingredients:
7 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
32 oz chicken broth
1 cup milk
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 16 oz can whole kernel corn
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions:

• Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain.
• Reserve 1 cup of potatoes and return the remaining to the saucepan. Mash the reserved potatoes, then return them to the saucepan.
• Stir in the broth, garlic, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk the milk and flour together until smooth, then add to the saucepan, stirring constantly.
• Stir until the mixture thickens, then add the cheese and corn. Stir until the cheese melts.

Bacon and chopped scallions make great additions as garnish.

This is comfort food, not for a calorie-counting day for sure. Enjoy!