Getting Crafty in the KITCHEN . . .

Happy Sunday to you!

Did my title get your attention?  Well I must confess ... it was NOT ME who was getting crafty (creative) in the kitchen!  It was my dear sweet husband Mark!  He's a very good cook and since he retired last July, he's been spending more time in the kitchen being creative!  

I've shared some of his cooking with you before so I hope you enjoy this one too!

This time around, it is 

FRESH CORN, BACON & POTATO CHOWDER 

with BEER BREAD

This was MY bowl at dinner tonight!  YUMMO!!

(Original Recipe)

10 ears corn  (2 large bags of frozen corn)

8 cups water

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups diced red onion (about 2 medium)

3 cups diced celery (about 6 ribs)

2 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper (about 3 large)

6 cups diced red potatoes (about 10 medium)

1 T fennel seed

1 T celery seed

1/2 T red pepper flakes

3 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (dried dill weed)

6 slices bacon, cooked until crispy, drained & crumbled

Shredded white or yellow Cheddar cheese

1. Cut corn kernels off cobs.  Place cobs in a large Dutch oven and cover with 8 cups water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered 20 minutes.  Remove cobs and discard.  Set cooking liquid aside.

2.  Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add onion, celery, bell pepper, potatoes, fennel seed, celery seed, red pepper flakes and corn kernels.  Cook until onions are tender and vegetables are fragrant.  Add liquid from cooking corn cobs and heavy cream.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender.  Just before serving, stir in dill.  Garnish with crumbled bacon.

Mark only made HALF this recipe and it made plenty for a couple of meals for two people!

Makes 16 cups.  Serves 16

Nutritional facts per serving:  410 calories, 25g fat, 8g protein, 43g carbohydrates, 6g fiber, 130mg sodium.

My husband like most good cooks, starts with a basic recipe then tweaks it to make it his own!  On this recipe, Mark stayed pretty true to the original with just a few changes which I have identified in RED print above.

As you saw in the recipe title, I also mentioned that we had BEER BREAD with our chowder.  Well, he kind of cheated on that one!  It is actually a boxed mix from a company called Tastefully Simple.  I actually bought this product through a 'house party' that one of our neighbors had but I see you can actually buy it online.  Here's a link to the Bountiful Beer Bread Mix.  Their stuff is really good ... you'll have to check it out!

Another recipe Mark made last week (that had been bugging him to try) is called Bob Evans Reuben Casserole.  And, yes, you can get the recipe from the Bob Evans website and HERE'S THE LINK so you can print it out for yourself.

Makes a large casserole (3 meals for the 2 of us!)

The classic flavors of a Reuben sandwich -- corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese -- baked in a casserole.

I will tell you, his twist on this one is:

 he reduced the mustard, 

added horsey-sauce, 

used homemade mashed potatoes and 

added Panko in with the Shredded Swiss Cheese.

Well that's it for me today!  I hope you'll stop back tomorrow when I will have more Paper Crafts to share with you.  The Crafty Secrets Linky Party is tomorrow so I'll have fun creations to share!  Hope to see you then!  Have a fabulous day and as always . . .