Ham & Potato Chowder

Last week was a long week, and I managed to get bronchitis while in Georgia…. so although it was 70 today, I was going to make soup for dinner! After lunch I headed to my Pinterest recipe board, and found the first soup recipe that took less than an hour to make (most are crockpot recipes), and made my grocery list.

1/2 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 can corn kernels
2 t thyme leaves
2 T flour
3 1/2 cups milk
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 (7-ounce) package ham steak, diced
Salt and pepper, to taste
7 slices bacon (or fewer… if you have to)

Melt the butter in a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion, and cook for a few minutes, until onions have become translucent. Stir in the corn and thyme for another few minutes– now your kitchen will start to smell awesome.

Whisk in flour until lightly browned, ~ 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk until slightly thickened, then stir in the diced potatoes.

Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes (depending on how big they were cut up). Stir in the ham, salt and pepper, and anything else you want like red pepper flakes or a little cheese. I let the chowder cook a few more minutes before it was ready to serve.

While the chowder is cooking, heat up your skillet and cook some bacon! The original recipe called for 4 slices, but I basically doubled it and threw some of the bacon in the chowder.

Serve immediately, garnish with bacon, salt & pepper, cheese and anything else! Also clean your bowl with some bread.

Edits: If the chowder is too thick, add more milk as needed to get the consistency you want. I also got the Mexican canned corn for an extra hint of flavor. Like I mentioned, I cooked the chowder longer because I really wanted to make sure the potatoes were cooked through, and because we had football tonight (although I had to skip) and I tried waiting on Hunter to eat.. but ended up eating before he got home.

Results: This becomes pretty thick the longer you cook it, but it was great and very filling! It also didn’t make a huge amount of soup (thank goodness), and we probably have 2 or 3 more servings left after dinner. Yay for homemade soup!