Through my searching, I've found a handful of sites with consistently good recipes, such as Can You Stay For Dinner?; Pioneer Woman; What Megan's Making; and Smitten Kitchen. I regularly check them as well as a few "real" food sites, such as Fine Cooking; Real Simple's Recipe page; and Food Network. (Although I'm not a huge fan of Food Network - maybe because there are too many chefs to choose from...or maybe because most of the recipes suck? I don't know.)
Pinterest is my latest little gold mine for recipes. I've found several gems there, including recipes from some of my regular sites that I happened to miss while cruising through their pages the first time around.
Whenever I find a yummy-looking recipe that actually turns into finger-licking fantastic food, I want to shout from the rooftop, "Holy crap! That frikkin' lasagna was A-MAZ-ING!!! Thankyouverymuch, goodnight!" But since my neighbors are already pissed at me for the all-night kennel-training crying fests going on over here at Chez Rags, I think I'll save my delicious discoveries for my little blog. Call it a break from the snark, yes?
Note to self: Buy earplugs for neighbors as early Christmas gifts.
I'm far from a Master Chef but last night's dinner was pretty fab. It was Smoky Corn Chowder from Real Simple.
8 ounces sliced bacon, cut in 1/2 inch pieces1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2 10-ounce pkgs frozen corn
3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup half-n-half
salt and pepper
4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 baguette, sliced and toasted (optional)
1. Cook the bacon in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
2. Spoon and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, paprika, and red pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the corn, broth, and half-n-half and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the pot and stir in 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
6. Divide the soup among bowls and top with the scallions and bacon. Serve with bread, if desired.
I also made toasted cheese sandwiches since soup seemed a bit light for my dinner tastes.
A few notes:
- I'd heard of 'smoked' paprika before and also heard it was definitely worth buying if a recipe called for it. I can't agree more. It was only like $4.00 and made a huge difference in taste.
- I used crushed red pepper flakes. Oh well.
- I couldn't find any 10 ounce bags of corn. All frozen corn in my store apparently comes in 12 ounce bags. Tasted the same.
- I used regular store-bought chicken broth. Low sodium? Psht. Did I mention I wasn't Master Chef yet? I can't season worth a lick so I need all the help I can get.
- Half-n-half? I totally used heavy cream. Cause I'm ghetto like that.
- No 'thinly sliced on the diagonal' scallions for me. Tasted just as good chopped.
- No baguette either. See above ghetto comment.
- Dutch oven = big pot.
- Next time I'd blend most of the soup instead of just half of it. It was a smidgen too chunky.
- This was supposed to be a break from snark, yes? Sorry....
With all that said, the chowder was AWESOME. Mouth complained about the texture in the beginning (natch) but finished with the bowl to his lips, sucking down the last of the soup.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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