Corn Chowder with bacon and potatoes

I have been craving this soup for a week or so, and our weather here in Kansas has been just crazy.  One day 77 and the next barely in the mid 30's.  So this was the perfect time to make this.  I've never made corn chowder before and I've only had it a couple of times and really enjoyed it.

This came our sooooooooooooooo yummy....I will make it again for sure.  I took this to work and shared with some of my co workers and they all loved it.  Just enough left for 1 one serving.  Which I will totally enjoy.

PRINT:

Ingredients

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled*
1/4 cup butter, diced into 1 Tbsp pieces
1 large red bell pepper, diced (1 1/2 cups)
1 medium yellow onion, diced (1 1/4 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced slightly less than 1/2-inch thick (3 cups)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2  cans corndrained
1 can creamed corn
1  cup half and half
1/2 - 1 cup heavy cream
3 oz cream cheese
3 oz Cracker Barrel White Cheddar Cheese
2 tsp dried thyme
Chives, chopped
sour cream


Directions:

Boil cubed potatoes until almost done, drain.
In large sauce pan cook bacon til crispy, set aside but leave fat in pan.  Add 1 TBL of butter to fat and then add 1/2 chopped onion.
Preheat oven to 450°, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the red pepper cut in half and the other half of the onion.  Cook until tender.  Set aside.
Back to bacon fat and butter, when onion is opaque add the garlic.  Add 2 TBL flour and stir until you get a wet sand look.  Add the chicken stock slowly and use whisk to stir so you get a nice smooth mixture.  Add all the corn, cooked pepper and onions and cook for about 10 minutes.  Add the Cheddar cheese, salt and pepper to taste.  Add the half and half and potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes at real slow low simmer.  The potatoes will continue to cook.  At this point I turned off the heat and let the flavors meld.  I finished the soup the next morning.    I melted butter in the microwave, added 2 TBL flour and made a roux.  I then added a 1/3 cut heavy cream and mixed til smooth.  I added that to the soup, added more heavy cream and simmered for about 10 minutes.  I then added the thyme and the cream cheese and simmered until the cheese melted.
When you serve garnish with chives and sour cream.  Enjoy with your favorite bread.
YUM, YUM, YUM
Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the Things You L♥ve.
Donna

Cheese, Chilli Chicken Taquito's (baked)

This is what we had for New Years Day.  Usually we have some sort of  big meal, either Ham, Roast Pork or sometimes even Turkey....but this year we just weren't in the mood for all that.  I myself was really craving something Mexican and I haven't made Taquito's in some time.  I also made some of these with white corn.  I used white corn tortillas, chicken breast and the list of other ingredients follows:

Ingredients:
4 large boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large onion diced
1/2 can of mild rotel
salt/pepper
2 tsp chilli powder
queso cheese for filling, didn't really measure
1/2 cup white corn (canned) drained)
4 oz cream cheese
Hatch green chilli
White Corn Tortillas (warmed, makes it easier to roll them)

***  warm the tortilla in a dry skillet, it makes them so much easier to roll and they don't break **
Directions:
Saute some chopped onion in pan, add chicken *I put the breast in and cooked then cut*, return the chicken to the pan  add seasoning, rotel, corn and the green chilli, if you use it.  Cook until all combined.  Warm tortilla and then fill, don't over fill, roll and place on a greased lined parchment paper baking sheet.  Spray the tops of tortilla then top with cheese.  Bake 375° for about 15-20 until
shells are golden and cheese is melted.  Serve with avocado and sour cream and of course more cheese.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the time to Do ALL the Things YOU L♥ve.
Donna

Hot corn Dip

 This is the other dip I made for Christmas Eve this year.  This is soooooooooooooooo good.  I didn't add the pickled Jalapeno's because I didn't want it to be hot,  but it has so much flavor.  You can make this ahead also, so it's a good time saver recipe if you're having a party.

Adapted from Trisha Yearwood
Printable
Ingredients

2 (11 ounce) cans of Mexicorn/Fiesta Corn, drained
2 (7 ounce) cans of chopped green chiles, drained
2 tablespoons of chopped, pickled jalapeno (omitted)
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (can use pepper jack)
2/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of dried red pepper flakes, or to taste, optional
'Corn chips, for dipping Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Mix together everything but the corn chips in a large bowl. Transfer to prepared baking dish and bake, uncovered at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges. Serve warm with the corn chips. Can also transfer to a 4 quart crockpot and cook covered on high for about an hour, or on low until warmed through and bubbly. Hold over low to keep warm.
Hope you try this recipe, it's quick and simple.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by, have a wonderful day and Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the Things You Love.
Donna 

Mexican Chicken Bake

This recipe started out one way and then took a big left turn. I started out to make a Mexican dish using the crock pot and was really disappointed after the chicken was done and it had no flavor. HMMMM interesting. For the life of me I'm not sure why that happened because it had some really great ingredients in it. So the end result was I drained the chicken then kind of started all over. I put some oil in a fry pan, sauteed some onion, and garlic added some chicken thighs I had just boiled, added salt pepper, chilli powder, taco seasoning, 1/2 can of mild rotel, diced drained canned tomatoes, a can of corn (drained) then added the crockpot chicken. Well the end result was fabulous. See........ and yes it was as good as it looks.Printable
Ingredient:
6-8 chicken thighs *can use chicken breast*
1/2 can of rotel (I use mild)
1 can of diced tomato drained (reserve the juice)
1 large onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 red pepper, diced (can use orange and yellow too)
1 1/2 TBL chilli powder
2 TBL taco seasoning
salt and pepper
1 can Green enchilada sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup chicken broth
couple springs cilantro chopped
oil

Garnish:
sour cream
shredded lettuce
fresh diced tomatoes
diced onion
Boil the chicken thighs for about 10-12 minutes. De bone and shred. Heat the enchilada sauce in microwave with sour cream and chicken broth.
In heavy skillet saute the onion, then add the garlic add the chicken and brown. Add the rotel and stir. Add chilli powder, taco seasoning, salt and pepper, stir. Add the reserved juice and reduce. At very end add cilantro and stir.
Warm the tortilla then in a 9x13 pan spread some of the enchilada sauce on bottom (don't over do) fill a tortilla with meat mixture and top with cheese, roll and put in tooth pick. Continue until you have them all done. Put some enchilada sauce on top (again don't over do , you don't want them soggy) sprinkle cheese on top and bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Serve and let guest garnish with what they want. Best of all Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by, Remember to Find the Time to DO ALL the things you LOVE.
Donna