Chunky Hot Chow-dah

Really, the deal with the rain isn’t that bad. I mean, it’s not like it’s cold rain. It’s actually kind of warmish out, the heavy clouds insulating the temperatures to the low sixties, which means it’s possible to run out and do errands and get doused, but not freeze to death.

Thirteen days straight of rain and overcast is sometimes inconvenient, but it’s …doable.

It’s still summer, anyway. Loads of fruit and veg come in to the “Bin End” grocer, and they have peaches four for £1. (And limes twelve for £1. What is up with THAT? You can bet we’re juicing, zesting, and freezing as fast as we can.) And corn — fresh, succulent and sweet, not too starchy. Little kernels of summer on the cob.

In moments of nostalgia, we remember when we grew corn, only two summers ago. We put little wizened kernels in little hillocks in the tilled garden, in groups of six. It takes up a lot of room, corn does, and you have to compete with its natural eaters — birds and rodents — but it’s worth growing if you have the space. The leaves are tough and will slice your hands, but when the wind blows, the suserration is another summer sound that reminds me of childhood in suburbia, when everybody on our street had tomato plants in the backyard, and the ubiquitous stands of heavy-headed sunflowers, and corn.

But I digress.

I’m not living in suburbia, but in a city full of stone and cement, and the best I can do right now is a pot of basil. But this doesn’t stop me from taking in summer’s bounty. And, while the rain falls, we eat the summer sun in a way that satisfies us, and warms us up. We make chowder.

According to the thick paperback doorstop known as The Food-Lover’s Companion, chowder is:
A thick, chunky seafood soup, of which clam chowder is the most well known. The name comes from the French chaudière , a cauldron in which fishermen made their stews fresh from the sea. New England-style chowder is made with milk or cream, Manhattan-style with tomatoes. Chowder can contain any of several varieties of seafood and vegetables. The term is also used to describe any thick, rich soup containing chunks of food (for instance, corn chowder). While there are arguments over what a chowder actually is, we can attest to the fact that we’ve made a milk-based soup with chunks of veg in it — sadly, sans the special cauldron.

Whether or not you lack a proper pot, chowder’s the perfect thing to make when you’ve got an ear or two of leftover corn. (You could also make Elle’s fresh corn cornbread and topping — YUM!)

Chunky Hot Corn Chowdah

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. smoked yeast
• 1 yellow onion, diced



• 5 small potatoes, peeled and diced
• 5 c. water or vegetable broth
• 3 ears of corn, with the kernels sliced off, or 2 c. corn
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 c. soymilk
• 1 tsp. each, freshly chopped sage, thyme, freshly ground black pepper
• dollop of Greek yogurts, OR, Tofutti sour cream
• crumbled ground meat, optional

1. In a medium-large pot, sautée your onion in the olive oil and smoked yeast until translucent, or you feel it’s cooked to your liking,
2. Add your potatoes, celery, and carrot, and brown for about a minute,
3. Then, add your water and/or broth. We have broth powder, so we just add a tablespoon of dry broth to our water, and go from there. If you prefer it saltier, adjust to your own taste.
4. Simmer your veggie and broth mixture on a medium-high flame for about ten minutes before adding your corn and seasonings. Because our veg was diced small, it didn’t take long for them to cook through. Test your potatoes to make sure they’re done,




5. Turn the flame down to low, and add sour cream, mixed with milk. DO NOT let this boil; soymilk will curdle, and if you’re using dairy products they also might not appreciate the high heat.
6. Simmer for about two minutes, just enough to be sure the milk is up to temperature, then remove from the heat and serve.

We used Realeat brand ground “meat” for topping on our soup. If you’re using ground beef, you know best when to add it, we assume, but we tried this two different ways, sautéing the meat crumbles with the onions, or adding it “raw” at the very last second. (Please, don’t do that with ground beef. Sautée it first?) It’s good either way.

Enjoy the taste of summer — any way you can get it.

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