Kim's Kitchen - Comfort Food Made Easy

Today must be my lucky day …..

This morning while walking through the grocery store I took my usual stroll past the mark down basket.  Whoa, today must be my lucky day.  I found a can of Chicken of the Sea baby clams marked down to a buck fifty.  Woo Hoo I thought to myself. 

I live in the high desert of California where the weather in fall can be very unpredictable.  Yesterday our high was 84 degrees (f) and this morning when I took my daughter to the bus stop it was on 34 degrees (f) with a better than average chance of rain tomorrow. 

I quickly went through the kitchen pantry in my mind:

* Potatoes √

* Celery √

* Corn √

* Chicken Stock √

* Bacon √

* Half and Half √ (you can’t be a coffee drinker with out good ol’ 1/2 n 1/2)

Wow!  Today really must be my lucky day as I had almost everything I needed to make he perfect Potato and Corn Chowder with Clams.  What was my missing ingredient?  Leeks.  I love leeks.  I use them in almost every Chowder I make.  They are so easy to use and tasty beyond belief.  So, here is what I did to make my Potato,Corn, Leek with Clam Chowder.

In my cast iron dutch oven I browned 3 strips of bacon that I cut in pieces.  Once the bacon was cooked, I removed it to a paper towel lined plate and put it aside for later.  I then took the celery and 3 leeks that were finely chopped and sauteed them in the bacon drippings.  When the leeks and celery were softened and beginning to turn a nice brown I added a tablespoon (okay maybe two) of butter and a table spoon of flour to the pan.  I stirred constantly making a nice rue.  Be sure to cook the flour for several minutes so your chowder doesn’t have that raw flour taste to it.  Then I added one  30oz carton of Chicken Broth to the party.  I cut up 6 russet potatoes that I washed and diced.  I leave the skins on my potatoes.  I put the lid on and brought the mixture to a medium simmer and let it cook until the potatoes were mostly soft.  

Be sure you adding your salt and pepper at each step.  It’s easy for your soups to become bland if you are not adding enough seasoning. 

Once the potatoes were mostly soft, I added a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup w/ roasted garlic and a cup or so of half and half.  Stirred well and then added a bag of frozen corn with red peppers and onion and my can of drained and rinsed clams.

Once again, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well and give a taste.  At this point I added my favorite seasoning in the world, Pampered Chef Rosemary Herb Seasoning Mixture and a couple shots of Crystal Hot Sauce.

I let it simmer and when the time was just right, I had a big bowl of this delicious goodness. 

Tonight I will be serving this Chowder along with Pork Quesadilla’s using that delicious Pork Roast I made a couple of days ago.

Once again, I spent very little money on this warm and delicious dinner using some of the common items we have in our kitchens. 

Enjoy……until next time…..Be well.