Recipe: Spicy Corn Chowder

Brrrr... It's getting cold outside, and what's warms you up better than a nice bowl of soup? Why, spicy soup of course!  Everyone seems to think making soup is complicated.  This soup require so little effort and time - and you will never find soup this good in a can!

Serves 6

-4 strips of bacon, cut into strips crosswise
-1 small onion, diced
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 stalk of celery, diced
-1 medium red bell pepper, diced
-2 medium Yukon potatoes, or 1 large sweet potato
-3 cups of frozen corn kernels
-1 (900ml) carton of chicken stock
-1/2 cup of heavy cream
-1 chipotle pepper (canned with adobo sauce), minced*
-1 stalk of green onion, greens only, thinly sliced crosswise
-1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
-salt and pepper

*1 whole chipotle pepper is pretty spicy.  Use half a chipotle pepper, or scrape out the seeds if you want a milder soup.

• Cook bacon in a large pot over medium heat.
• Remove bacon and drain on a paper towel, reserving 1 tbsp of bacon fat and 1 tbsp of the bacon in the pot.
• Add the onions and celery to the pot and cook until soft. 
• Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
• Add stock and potatoes.  Scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan.  Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil.
• Once boiling, turn heat down to low and cover with a lid.  Simmer for 10 min.
• Add bell pepper, corn, chipotle pepper and heavy cream.  Simmer for another 5 min.
• Add remaining bacon, cilantro and green onions.  Season with salt and pepper.
• If soup is too thick, add a little milk and reheat until steaming.  Do not boil.
• Serve immediately with bread.

Recipe adapted from Christine Cushing's Corn Chowder with Chipotles recipe on Foodnetwork.ca