Chicken & Corn Chowder

Here’s the thing…it’s still 93 degrees where we live, but I needed to use up my veggies in the fridge so what else to do than make Chicken & Corn chowder? It sounded logical to me LOL.

This is easy and pretty fast to make. In fact when I make this sometimes I will freeze the extra for a cold day and it makes for a fast dinner another night as well.

For this I used:

4 Ears of Corn (Cut off the Cobb)

4 Celery Ribs Diced

4 Green Onions Diced

1 Zucchini Diced

6 Small Yellow Potatoes Or 3 Big Russet Potatoes Diced (Whichever you have is fine)

3 Chicken Breasts (Which I boiled for about 10 minutes or so in water with a good pinch of salt, pepper, dill and I shredded them before I added to the chowder)

3 Cups 2 % milk

4 Cups Free Range Low Sodium Chicken Broth

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

3 Tbsp Butter

1/2 Cup Flour

1 Tsp Dried Dill

1 Tsp Smoked Paprika

1 Tsp Salt (You might need more depending on your taste)

1 Tsp Black Pepper

In a large pot combine olive oil and butter over medium high heat. Add zucchini, onions, celery, potatoes and half of the corn. Let the veggies sweat and kind of brown for about 3 minutes or so until you see the bottom of the pot is getting slightly brown and then add the flour. Stir combining and coating the veggies with the flour mixture. Add the milk and chicken broth while stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to get up the flavorful bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the salt, pepper, dill, paprika, and shredded chicken.

Let the chowder come to a boil and turn it down to a simmer. Let simmer until the potatoes are tender and the chowder has thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the rest of the corn and cook only for an additional 5 minutes. This gives the chowder some texture. If I have cheese in the fridge I usually shred some for the kids to top off the chowder with it. It is optional though…I hope you enjoy!

Braised Chicken Pancetta

This chicken is like gravy heaven! I came up with this because my kids always like to eat chicken legs…and quite honestly I was getting sick of roasting them like they like them. So, here it goes:

2 Pounds Chicken Legs

2 Garlic Cloves Diced

I Yellow Onion Chopped

3 Oz Pancetta Diced

1/2 Tsp Fresh Rosemary Chopped

1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth

1 Cup Heavy Cream

In a large sauce pan heat up on high 3 good Tbsp of olive oil. Add onion, garlic, pancetta, a pinch of salt & pepper and chicken.

Brown them for about 5-7 minutes until they get a nice brown crust on them. Add the chicken broth and scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and put the lid on the chicken. Let simmer for about 35 minutes until the chicken pulls away from the bone a nit. Add the cream and let simmer an additional five minutes. It should thicken by bubbling a bit.

Serve with the sauce dripping down the chicken.

Enjoy!