Corn Chowder Recipe

On a brisk autumn day or cold winter's night, nothing is as good as a nice steaming bowl of soup. Making corn chowder is surprisingly easy, and the results are fantastic. This makes a good stand-by meal for when you have company.

Ingredients:

1 onion

3 potatoes

½ bag frozen sweet corn (fresh corn cut off of the cob will have the best flavour, but the frozen is cheaper and more generally available. You can also use tinned corn (canned)

Butter (approximately ¼ cup; margarine works as well)

Vegetable Stock Cube (if you prefer, you can use a meat-based stock cube)

1 wedge of brie cheese

½ container cream cheese

1 small pot single cream

Directions:

1. Wash and peel the potatoes, and peel the onion. Finely chop the potatoes and onions.

2. Sautee the onion, potato, and corn in butter. Cook at a medium heat, stirring often, so that it sweats and slowly cooks. When they are nearly cooked, crumble the stock cube over them and stir in well.

3. Pour in enough water to completely cover the vegetables. (I prefer to boil the water first and then add it, but you can add cold water and then bring the soup to the boil if you prefer.)

4. Use either a hand blender or a masher to mash about half of the vegetables. You can make it smoother or leave it chunkier according to your preferences.

5. Cut the rind off of the brie cheese, and then break, in small chunks, into the soup. Add the cream cheese as well. Stir at a medium to low heat until the cheese is completely melted.

6. Add the cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Serve with bread and enjoy!

A note for the health-conscious or dieting cook: This recipe is designed for optimum flavour, and does not worry about fat content. However, it is easy to modify this recipe to make a lower fat version. To make a lighter, healthier version, make these substations:

-Instead of sautéing the vegetables in butter, you can either steam them before use or cook with a splash of olive oil and a bit of water.

-Use low or no-fat cream cheese. To further reduce the fat content, use less brie and more cream cheese (be warned that this will reduce the richness of the flavour, though).

-Either leave out the cream for a brothier soup, or replace with low-fat plain yogurt or light crème fraiche.

A note for vegans: This recipe is already completely vegetarian. If you want to make it vegan, you can leave out the dairy products completely. The soup will be less rich and have a stronger vegetable flavour, but is still good.