VEGETABLE CHOWDER
This one, at it's root, is a vegetarian chowder. You can make it not vegetarian by adding some cubed chicken or ham, but for the base I like to keep it simple for our veggie friends. It really doesn't need the meat.
Ingredients:
4 tblsp butter
1/2 cup blended mirepoix paste
4 tblsp flour
2 cups milk (whole is best)
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 c tomato sauce
2 medium cloves diced garlic
1/4 chopped sweet onion (vidalia)
1/4 small chopped red onion, chopped coarse
1 big stalk of celery, chopped coarse
4 big red potatoes, cubed
1 big carrot, sliced, or a few baby carrots
1 1/2 cups broken up or chopped broccoli
1 can creamed corn
1/2 can corn
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 1/2 tsp oregano,basil, parsley, thyme
1 tsp paprika, ground pepper (white is better)
This one takes a lot of chopping, but it's well worth it. You could feed an army on this stuff for REALLY cheap, and it's great food to bring to parties or events.
So, melt butter in a big pot. Add the mirepoix paste and simmer for a bit. maybe 2 minutes, just to toast it and activate the flavor. Add the flour and mix up well, making sure all of the flour is broken down. Toast it for about 4 minutes or so, then add the milk, 1 cup at a time, and stir the heck out of it to thicken it. Then, add the herbs and vegetable broth. cook it for about 5 minutes or so. Then, add the 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese and stir it until melted. Add the garlic, onion, celery, potatoes, and carrot, the 1/2 can of corn, and the tomato sauce. Simmer, low heat, covered, until the potatoes soften. Stir occasionally. This should take about 12-15 minutes. Add the cream corn and the broccoli, and cook until the broccoli is soft and the potatoes are cooked through. This bit takes a bit, like 20 minutes, so stir it every 5 or so. The flavor is totally worth it.
This seems like more work than it is. Once you get the chopping done, you pretty much just leave it alone and stir it every 5 or so minutes.
Garnish this with some cheddar cheese, and a tiny glop of sour cream. If you're not a veggie, some crumbled bacon would be rather good, as well.