Corn Chowder

While my brother was here last month, I asked him what he what he wanted me to cook for him. He wanted corn chowder. Not only did he want me to make it for him, he wanted me to teach him how to make it. Easy enough. I prefer to make this in the colder months because it is very rich and soups just don't go with summer to me. Alas, this soup is really cheap and easy to make, so he got what he wanted.

Corn Chowder
What you need-

Potatoes- the number you use depends on how many people you are feeding. I usually plan on at least one potato per person.

1 small onion-chopped up (you'll only use half)

5 slices of thick cut bacon

A teeny bit of butter

2 cans of evaporated milk

2 cans of cream corn

16 ounces of Velveeta-cut into cubes

Start out by peeling and slicing the potatoes.

No, those are not my hands.

Next, chop up half of the onion and then slice the five pieces of bacon into large pieces.

Now throw a teeny bit of butter into the bottom of the pot along with the onion and the bacon. The goal here is to soften the onion and also brown the bacon just a little.

Let it go for just a little longer over medium low heat and then add in the cream corn.

Now add in the cans of evaporated milk.

Stir everything together and then add in the sliced potatoes.

I never said this was healthy.

Turn the heat down just a smidge and put a lid on the pot. Stir the soup every few minutes because it will stick to the bottom of the pot. Stir carefully though or your potatoes will break into pieces. You don't want that. Let the soup simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, usually 30 minutes or so depending on how you sliced your potatoes. If you like some spice, toss in a teaspoon or LESS of cayenne pepper!

Once the potatoes are done, or nearly done, cube up the velveeta (yep, the whole package) and dump it into the soup. Keep the heat low. Stir, stir, stir! This soup will definitely scorch now that the Velveeta is in. Once the Velveeta is melted, the soup is done!

The consistancy of this soup varies, my grandma gave me this recipe (a longggg time ago) and she has had problems the last couple of times she has made it with the soup being too runny. I have to say, my soup was perfect, it was thick and yummy. It must have something to do with how starchy the potatoes are that you use. And don't forget that the last thing you want to do before serving the soup is adding in the Velveeta. If you add it too early it does weird things to the soup, it gets watery and, well, just trust me on that one.

Serve with a hunk of cornbread and this is a seriously filling meal. Especially in the winter!