Southwest Corn Chowder

Sometimes I meet really neat people and I think to myself... "Wow, I totally want to be friends with them."  Such was the case when I met Jessica and Bryan. 

And since I wanted to hang out with them and I had been hungry for this corn chowder for awhile, I invited them over for dinner... They gladly obliged and brought the wine.

With this recipe, I used the oregano-infused olive oil that I made with the oregano from my garden this summer.  Basically, I just filled a glass jar with fresh oregano and crush garlic cloves, filled it with olive oil, and then patiently let the flavors meld.

Southwest Corn Chowder

Ingredients
olive oil
4-6 cloves of garlic
1 onion
2 cans of corn
1 New Mexico green chili pepper
1 Poblano pepper
~3 cups water or (vegetable or chicken stock)
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
2-3 small potatoes
1/2 of a red and orange bell pepper, each
1 tbsp lime juice
2 c heavy cream (or half & half)
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh cilantro (for garnish)
plain yogurt or sour cream (for garnish)

Directions
Chop the onion and garlic.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot.  Add the garlic, onion and 1 1/2 cans of corn (set aside the last bit of corn to be added later).

Cook until the onions become translucent.

Remove the seeds and chop the New Mexican green chili and Poblano peppers.

Add the chopped peppers, oregano, and cumin to the pot.

 

Add enough water (or vegetable or chicken broth) to cover the mixture, approximately 3 cups or so. Simmer for 20 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, dice the small potatoes and bell peppers, seeds removed.  In a separate pot, bring some water to a boil and boil the diced potatoes for 2 minutes.

Add the diced bell peppers and boil for an additional 2 minutes. Then, drain the water off the potatoes and peppers.

Using a hand blender (or regular blender), purée the soup.

Stir in the lime juice.

Stir in the heavy cream (or half & half).

Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Add in the remaining corn, potatoes, and bell peppers.

Serve with cilantro and plain yogurt (or sour cream).