Vermont Cheddar-Corn Chowder
The original restaurant recipe from which I adapted this one calls for a heart-stopping one pound of bacon, two cups of heavy cream, and sixteen ounces of cheddar cheese. While there’s no disputing that it tastes delicious, if I cooked like that at home our next trip up to town would be on a stretcher.
I wanted to see if I could create a thick, flavorful chowder with a slightly lower fat and sodium content without compromising on taste. To accomplish this, I leveraged a technique that I first learned to love while developing my French Carrot-Ginger Soup recipe, which contains no cream and is thickened with Arborio rice, a grain that becomes extremely creamy when simmered in broth. This does require the extra step of removing some of the vegetables after they’ve cooked and puréeing the broth prior to adding the corn, but it thickens the soup up nicely even before you add in whole milk and cheese.
Make no mistake, this soup is still far from low-calorie. It’s a chunky, stick-to-the-ribs chowder just like they serve on the East Coast, but with the bacon and Vermont sharp cheddar cheese reduced by half, and whole milk used in place of cream, it’s worth the splurge when corn and potatoes are abundant.
(Note: Cabot isn’t sponsoring this post, I just want to represent this wicked good, award-winning cheese from my home state. If you use New York cheddar instead, just make sure to buy extra sharp.)
Vermont Cheddar-Corn Chowder
Notes
If it's important to you that your chowder be lighter in color, peel your potatoes and cook the bacon in a separate frying pan instead of the stockpot.
The cayenne pepper adds a kick to this chowder so feel free to reduce or omit it if you don't like heat.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound bacon, crumbled
- 1 small yellow/sweet onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 6 fennel stalks or 2 ribs celery, diced
- 2 tablespoons shredded garlic scapes or 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 medium red potatoes, sliced into 3/4 inch cubes
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 3 cups water
- 6 tablespoons Arborio rice
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 ears of corn, removed from cob
- 4 cups milk
- 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
- 8 ounces Vermont sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- Salt and pepper
- 1 bunch scallions, sliced
Instructions
- Fry bacon in a heavy stock pot. When cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and drain all but approximately 2 tablespoons of bacon grease from the pan. Let the bacon cool before crumbling it
- Add carrots, fennel/celery, onions, and garlic and sauté for five minutes. If there is a lot of bacon fat stuck on the bottom of the pot, splash a little white wine in and scrape gently with a wooden spoon to loosen
- Add potatoes, chicken stock, water, rice, coriander, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low, allowing the soup to simmer for 35 minutes
- Remove pot from heat and use a slotted spoon to pull out about half of the vegetables, taking care to leave the grains of rice in the pot. Set the vegetables aside. Use an immersion blender to purée the soup. Return the vegetables to the pot and add corn, milk, and Worcestershire sauce. Allow to cook another 10 minutes, then taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Stir in cheddar until melted.
- Remove from heat, add crumbled bacon and sliced green onions. Serve hot
