corn chowder: a maine recipe

One of my fellow Montessorians gifted me potatoes from her summer garden, so I folded them into my carry-on and brought them to Maine, where I adapted this newspaper recipe for my family:

Makes four servings.

-6 ears of corn
- salt
- 1 cup bacon chopped
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoons of flour
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 2.5 cups Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 3 tablespoons chopped thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cut kernels off the corn and set aside. This will make approximately 4 cups. Place the cobs in a large pot and cover with approximately 5 cups, add 1 teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for half an hour. Leave cobs in the broth until ready to use.

Cook bacon until crisp and fat is rendered (approximately 10-15 minutes). Remove bacon with slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and set aside. There should be approximately 2 tablespoons of fat left--pour off excess or use extra butter to make up difference.

Add butter to the drippings and cook the onion over medium heat until it begins to soften (about five minutes). Add flour and whisk until thick and bubbly (about three minutes). Measure out 4 cups of corn broth and add to pot with half-and-half. Whisk over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a simmer.

Add corn, potatoes, thyme, and sugar, and simmer, covered, over medium-low heat until the corn and potatoes are tender (about fifteen minutes). Return bacon bits to the chowder and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Let stand at room temperature for approximately an hour or refrigerate overnight.* Gently warm and serve.

* I hadn't realized how long this recipe would take when I began preparing the vegetables, and when I realized this, we had to have another dinner made (while this one was going) and had the soup the next day for lunch. I'm tucking this recipe away and hope to make it again when the corn is wonderfully fresh and perhaps we'll even have some of our own potatoes from the garden.

Thanks, Erin, for getting me going down this path! What a gift!

zucchini bread recipe

I published this recipe on an old blog of mine many, many years ago, and I've made this bread so many times since, usually out of zucchini from our garden. I used this recipe for Harvest Festival as school, but made them into mini-muffins, and they were a huge hit, not just with the students, but with my own children as well, and one of my two is extremely p-i-c-k-y.

So here I share it again, and wish you many delicious sweet breads over the holiday and in the new year:

Without a doubt, one of my biggest weaknesses is cake-y bread. Banana, blueberry, anything that is also good in muffin form. Today, I bring you one of my favorites, in celebration of seasonal eating: zucchini bread.

Recipe kindly passed along to me from Ryan's mother; it's a childhood favorite of my husband's.


Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups unpeeled, grated zucchini
- 1 tsp vanilla
- (optional: 1 cup raisins, 1 cup nuts)



1. First, you grate two cups' worth of zucchini. This is especially good for those overly large zucchinis in the garden you somehow forgot to pick; I'm sure I'll find myself in that place in September.

I love grating fresh zucchini--it's so perfect and wet and ready. It zips along the grater, snicksnick, piles up in such a satisfactory way. Of course, I'm still finding some in my hair, but that's only because I am one of the messiest folks this side of the Mississippi.


2. Then, beat four eggs with one cup of oil. I have a handheld mixer, but I did this with a whisk. After all, I did just mention four eggs and one cup of oil? May as well burn a few calories while making it.


3. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.


4. Add to egg mixture, alternating with zucchini. Stir in vanilla (and raisins and nuts--I didn't use them, but others might like the added flavor and texture).

5. Divide into greased and floured 9 x 5 pans.

6. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

7. Let stand at room temperature for ten minutes, then turn out on a rack to cool.

Ryan enjoys his zucchini bread with butter; I like mine with cream cheese. I might try it with honey. It's wonderful plain too.

For a healthier alternative, checking out this article from Cooking Light on filling fiber.