VELVET CORN CHOWDER WITH RED PEPPER CREAM

Baby it's cold outside....... I love soups with different flavors drizzled on top! This is a simple soup everyone thinks you slaved over. The spicy red cream sauce packs a punch of color and flavor to this creamy corn chowder. And a few words about corn, I cringe in the produce section or the Farmers Market when I see people pulling apart the protective husks to see if the corn is in straight rows on the cob. WHO CARES?? It isn't staying in a straight row when you cook it. It matters how it tastes, that's all that matters, nothing else matters!!! Fully ripe sweet corn has bright green, moist husks. The silk should be stiff, dark and moist. You should be able to feel individual kernels by pressing gently against the husk. Fresh corn, if possible, should be cooked and served the day it is picked or purchased. As soon as corn is picked, its sugar begins is gradual conversion to starch, which reduces the corn's natural sweetness. Corn will lose 25% or more of its sugar within 25 hours after harvesting it. If for some reason corn is not being used immediately or has been purchased from the supermarket, add sugar to replace that which has been lost. Add one teaspoon sugar for each quart of water. Between purchasing and cooking, keep the corn moist and cool. Pack in a cooler for the trip home from farm or market and refrigerate corn immediately after taking it home. By refrigerating the corn, it helps the corn stay sweet by not letting the sugars turn to starch. Use within two or three days. - From What's Cooking America RED PEPPER CREAM: 2 lg red bell peppers 2 T fresh oregano 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 T olive oil ½ tsp salt 2 T heavy cream Roast peppers under broiler or over flame until blackened and blistered. Place peppers in bowl and cover for about 10 minutes. Peel away skins, discarding stems and seeds. Chop peppers and place in blender. Add oregano, cayenne, olive oil and salt. Puree the mixture, drizzling the cream in while blending. Transfer to bowl and set aside. CORN CHOWDER: 2 slices bacon, chopped ¼ C. celery, finely diced 1 small yellow onion, finely diced 2 C. chicken broth 4-5 red new potatoes, diced 1½ T. fresh thyme 1 bay leaf Salt and pepper, to taste 2 C. milk, heated 6 ears of corn, remove kernels saving as much juice as possible In a heavy saucepan over med-low heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon and reserve for another use. Increase your temperature and add the celery and onion and saute until translucent. Increase the heat to high and add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the potatoes, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper and return to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the milk and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the corn and the juice, simmer until the corn is tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Serve the soup in individual bowls topping with a spoonful of the red pepper cream. Serves 6-8

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Our Texas Thanksgiving

I'm Whooped.  How about you?  It has been a crazy busy few days, well, months truthfully, and now it is beginning to slow down....until Tuesday.  Then it starts all over again.  My daughter's wedding next Saturday in Kauai and I cannot wait to forget my name and finally relax.  So I'm sure we are all Turkey-ed out, so I will keep this short.  I just finished my Turkey and Cranberry Sandwich and I am now officially back on my healthy eating. Quickly, here was the menu:

Assortment of cold snacks + Jalapeno Deviled Eggs + Artichokes with Lemon Mayonnaise
Brined and Roasted Turkey (roasted upside down so the juices run to the breast, not very pretty, but very effective for super moist turkey)
Gravy
Mom's Cornbread Dressing (recipe to follow)
Corn Souffle' (recipe to follow)
Spinach Artichoke Gruyere Bake (recipe to follow)
Bailey's Mashed Potatoes
Collin's Sweet Potatoes
Cranberries with Cointreau
Green Pineapple Salad
Waldorf Salad
Pumpkin Pie (with grated orange rind and Cointreau in the pie crust)
Apple Pomegranate Pie
Lemon Creme Meringue Pie
Apple Tart in Puff Pastry
Mincemeat Pie (with toasted Pecans and Bourbon in the pie crust)
Bourbon Pecan Pie
Chocolate Pecan Pie

Mom's Cornbread Dressing

1 lg + 1 sm pkg of Pepperidge Farm Cornbread dressing
1 lg onion, small diced
4 ribs celery, small diced
2-3 T butter (to saute onion & celery)
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 pounds of Jimmy Dean HOT sausage, crumbled, browned and drained
1 T Poultry Seasoning
Salt and Pepper
Basil, Oregano, Savory and Majoram (use any combination or all)
1 T Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning (or to taste)
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 Apple, chopped
1/2 C pecans, broken
2 cans Chicken Stock, heated
3 eggs, slightly beaten

Place cornbread dressing in a large bowl.  Saute onion and celery until translucent, pour over in bowl.  Brown sausage and pour into bowl.  Add to bowl seasonings, pecans, mushrooms, apple, melted butter, eggs and toss lightly together.  Lastly, add chicken broth as needed to make dressing fairly moist.

Start this recipe early and let sit covered until liquids are absorbed.  Lightly spoon dressing mixture into pan(s).  DO NOT PACK. 

Bake at 350 degrees covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes more.  I add some of the drippings from the Roasted Turkey when they are available.

Corn Souffle' with Caramelized Onion Sauce

Souffle':
6 ears of corn - remove from cob, save liquid
1 lg onion, diced
1 C Heavy Cream
6 T butter
2 tsp cornstarch
Salt and Pepper
4 eggs

Onion Sauce:

3 lg Onions, sliced
3/4 C Heavy Cream
1/2 stick butter
1 T Soy Sauce

Saute onion and corn with liquid - do not brown.  In a food processor (yippie), combine 1/2 of corn and onion mixture with eggs, cornstarch and cream until smooth.

Transfer to a bowl and add reserved sauted corn and season with salt and pepper, mix together.

Pour corn mixture in buttered baking dish.  Cover with parchment paper or waxed paper to keep from forming skin.  Bake in a water bath 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.  When done it will slightly jiggle.

For Onion Sauce, saute onions in butter until caramelized.  Add heavy cream and cook until reduced my half.  Season with salt and pepper and add soy sauce.

To serve, spread caramelized onions over souffle'.

Spinach and Artichoke Gruyere Bake

3 pkgs frozen spinach, cooked according to pkg directions and drain thoroughly
1 pound bacon, sliced and trimmed on most of the extra fat, browned and drained
2 T butter
2 med onions, diced
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced (use your favorite variety)
1 lg jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Cayenne Pepper, to taste
Nutmeg, freshly grated, to taste
1 tsp dry mustard
Lemon juice of 4 lemons and grated lemon rind from1 lemon
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 C gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 C dry bread crumbs
2 T butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Saute onions and mushrooms with seasonings.  Combine sauted mixture with spinach, artichokes, soup, lemon juice, lemon rind and gruyere cheese.  Pour mixture into buttered baking dish.  Combine parmesan cheese with bread crumbs.  Sprinkle on top of spinach/artichoke mixture, dot with butter.

Baked covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes until browned.

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