Chicken Corn Chowder

It's June and school is out.  That means one thing…summer!  Nothing says summer like the beach, and nothing says summer at the beach like chowder.

When my kids were little, we would rent a house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a week every summer.  On the first day, while the kids were down by the water with their dad and grandmother, I would make a big pot of chicken corn chowder to have for dinner.  They would come up from the beach salty, sandy, sunburned...and hungry.  At dinner we'd eat and laugh and play games, and after dessert they'd fall asleep...HARD...until the sun and the roaring waves from the Atlantic would wake them up the next day.  And we'd do it all over again.

I’m happy to share my recipe with you here.  It’s hearty and satisfying but not too thick, and because of the ingredients, it’s a complete meal in itself.

Summer is the the best 9 weeks of the year. Enjoy every minute of it! :)

windblown, sunburned, showered, and ready for dinner, Summer 2004

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

** I serve this with biscuits.  Just buy or make your favorite kind

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 small onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

3 tablespoons butter

2 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 cups whole milk or cream

1 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup freshly shredded Monterey jack cheese

2 cups of fresh corn cut off the cob (approx 8 ears of corn) - or - 1 16-ounce can corn, drained

1 16-ounce can creamed corn

1 4.5-ounce can chopped green chilis, undrained

2 teaspoon hot sauce

1 large tomato, chopped

salt/pepper

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown in large dutch oven, with butter, onion and garlic.  Sprinkle cumin over chicken mixture and brown a few minutes more.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add chicken broth, corn, chilis, and hot sauce--simmer 10 minutes.  Stir.  Add milk and stir.  Add cheese and stir gently over low heat until melted.  Stir in tomato and heat together to mix flavors.  Serve in bowls with salt sprinkled on top (makes 2 quarts)