Corn Chowder

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 strip bacon, or 1 teaspoon bacon fat
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup small diced carrot
• 1/2 cup small diced celery
• 4-5 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed from the cobs , cobs reserved
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 1/2 cups milk, whole or low fat
• 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and large diced
• 3 teaspoons of Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions

1. Cook the bacon: Place butter and bacon into a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot. Heat on medium heat until the bacon renders its fat, 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the onions, bell pepper, carrot, celery: Add the chopped onions, red bell pepper, carrot, and celery, lower the heat to medium low and cook until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.
3. Add corn cobs (stripped of corn), milk, bay leaf to pot, simmer: Break the corn cobs in half (after you've stripped off the corn) and add the cobs to the pot. Add the milk and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes.
4. Make sure the heat is as low as can be and still maintain a gentle simmer (on our stove we had to use the "warm" setting) to prevent scalding the milk on the bottom of the pan.
5. Add potatoes, salt, thyme: After 20 minutes, add the potatoes, salt, and thyme to the pot. Increase the heat to return the soup to a simmer, then lower the heat to maintain the simmer and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Discard cobs, bacon, bay leaf, then add corn, black pepper: Discard the cobs, the bacon strip, and the bay leaf. Add the corn kernels and black pepper. Again raise the heat to bring the soup to a simmer, then lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender.
7. Add more salt and pepper to taste.