Saturday, May 7, 2011

Corn Chowder with Smoked Sausage

My souvenir from Kansas City was a cold virus that started with a killer sore throat on Easter Monday, so as I contemplated what to cook, I had to be careful to choose something throat-soothing and definitely NOT spicy.  I flipped through my recipe collection, and after about ten different and very tempting curry recipes (you think maybe I like curry?), I found the perfect solution: Corn Chowder with Smoked Sausage.  It is creamy, tasty, and easy to swallow without being spicy.  It makes for a great comfort food that would be kind to my uncomfortable throat.

New Orleans Corn Bisque with Smoked Sausage
Corn Chowder with Smoked Sausage

This corn chowder is super easy to make with just a small amount of preparation involved.  I usually don't precook the potatoes but just dump them in along with the milk.  It works out pretty well.  I have made this with reduced-fat 2% milk before as well as fat-free milk (I happen to have just fat-free milk at home this time around), and I think I do prefer the reduced-fat milk because it makes the soup creamier and gives it more flavor.  I have never tried it with whole milk, but it is already very good with milk that has lower fat content, so I prefer to keep it that way.  I also find that I don't need to add a lot of salt to this, because the smoked sausage adds quite a bit of flavor and provides a nice contrast from the other, blander ingredients.  This is just what I needed.

Recipe courtesy of:
Hillshire Farm (get the recipe here)