I don’t remember every great meal I’ve ever enjoyed, but some meals are more memorable than others. The Wisconsin Corn Chowder I enjoyed at the home of my sister Maria’s in-laws, Arlene and Edward Oliver on a fall day decades ago in Albany, Wisconsin made a lasting impression and I’ve often tried to replicate it over the years.
My sister Maria and her husband Jim came to visit his parents with their 8-month son Gregory when Weldon and I were living 35 miles away in Middleton, Wisconsin. So, we took this occasion for our first trip to Albany, a beautiful, tranquil and friendly village along the Sugar River which on that chilly October day was adorned in vivid fall colors. Albany was then surrounded by dairy farms, such as the Oliver farm, which supplied milk to Wisconsin’s cheese-making region.
At dinner time, Mrs. Oliver, a soft-spoken, high school teacher and wife of a dairy farmer, served this Wisconsin corn chowder, saying it was a simple meal. But it was much more. The first spoonful of the luscious creamy corn chowder took my breath away. In addition to copious corn kernels, it incorporated chunky potatoes, celery and onions in a bacon-flavored, milky base. Accompanied by fresh bread, it was a supremely comforting meal on that crisp October night. Not knowing Mrs. Oliver well at the time and as a fledgling cook, I was not brave nor wise enough to ask for the recipe. But I remembered the ingredients of that delectable meal for years and repeatedly pursued that chowder’s special dairy farm creaminess.
Why is it corn chowder and not corn soup?
Chowders are soups but not all soups are chowders which are distinguished by their much thicker, stew-like quality.
Historic evidence shows that chowders originated in the coastal fishing communities of France, where fishermen cooked a portion of the day’s catch in a “chauderie,” a large cast-iron cauldron. Sailors on ships crossing the Atlantic cooked chowders in such cauldrons by simmering available seafood flavored with salt pork and onion, provisions that survived for days at sea, thickened with hardtack, laying the flavor foundation for traditional seafood chowder.
Immigrants from European fishing villages brought the savory seafood stew and heavy cast iron pots to New England which then spread to America’s other coastal communities. Native Americans introduced settlers to corn and corn soup. But chowder and corn soup merged as settlers moved west where seafood was not available, but corn was plentiful. Jasper White, in a comprehensive history of American chowders notes: They had the heritage of making and eating chowders, and corn took over. By the end of the late 1800s corn chowder was very popular.
As I started to reconstruct Mrs. Oliver’s recipe, I chose the best ingredients and followed a layering technique in assembling the chowder.
Bi-color corn with its super sweet, soft buttery flavor that intensifies when cooked became the consummate ingredient for this chowder. Other fresh sweet corn also can be used as a substitute. Occasionally, I’ve made corn chowder from processed corn, canned or fresh, but flash frozen corn is preferred to canned corn because processed corn lacks the enticing sweetness of fresh corn.
Homemade chicken broth was enhanced with corn cobs, once sheared of kernels, and flavorful corn “milk” extracted from the cobs with the back of a knife. This corn-infused liquid became the liquid base for this chowder providing stability and flavor, avoiding an all-milk broth’s tendency to curdle when heated.
Thick-sliced smoked bacon substitutes for the traditional salt pork and plays two roles in this chowder. It adds a salty and savory taste to the broth, its intoxicating smokiness enhances corn flavor. Reserving fried bacon bits for garnish, rather than leaving them in the broth, adds a crispy, chewy and nutty taste at serving.
In addition to corn, a wide range of vegetables are often added to chowders such as leeks, scallions, parsnips, carrots, celery root, garlic and bell peppers. Thinking that simplest is best and not wanting to detract from the corn, I opted for the vegetables Mrs. Oliver used: onions, celery and potatoes. The vegetables were cut into various sizes larger than corn kernels to provide textural interest.
Mrs. Oliver’s Wisconsin Corn Chowder was thick with ingredients, but the broth was not heavy and sauce-like. Since cream alone will not thicken the chowder, a thickener was needed to develop a silky body, creating chowder’s characteristic creamy texture.
I explored various reliable soup thickening methods such as puréeing a cup of chowder or mashing cooked potatoes, making a flour and butter roux, mixing cornstarch with cold cream or half & half to add just before the final heating, but I opted to thicken with beurre manié, a simple French method for thickening sauces and soups. It involves kneading equal parts of butter and flour by volume until the flour particles are coated in butter. The resulting paste is then added to the hot broth. Beurre manié thickens without clumping giving the chowder a velvety texture.
I kept the seasoning simple. Bay leaves and thyme were added as the chowder was thickening and provide just a hint of herbiness. Salt and pepper were adjusted to taste.
Mrs. Oliver’s corn chowder tasted of fresh cream. Other corn chowder recipes include fresh or evaporated milk, cream or even sour cream. But cream, whether heavy or half & half, adds a rich finish to chowder. Thus, I warmed one cup heavy cream and one cup half & half which were added to the pot as I gently heated the chowder for serving.
This Wisconsin Corn Chowder is an easy, straightforward dish to prepare. It doesn’t need long cooking or much prep work. Its elements can be prepared in a few minutes. No precision is required in frying the bacon, cutting the vegetables or preparing the broth. It can easily be made in advance and chilled quickly, holding off on adding the cream until just before serving.
This Wisconsin Corn Chowder warms all senses. Its aroma permeates the kitchen as it cooks. Its corn taste is intense. Its creamy, rich broth filled to the brim with corn, celery, onions and potatoes is a contrast in textures. A bowl of this chowder is satisfying and warming on a cool fall day. It is a full meal in one bowl, suitable as a simple family dinner or an elegant company dish. It is a lesson in how to produce a quick, cozy meal with a few high-quality ingredients. Savoring a bowl of this corn chowder rekindled memories of that special meal Mrs. Oliver served on that October evening decades ago.
Wisconsin Corn Chowder
5 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from 4-5 ears corn, husks and silk removed
1 quart (946 ml) chicken broth or stock
1 cup water (237 ml), plus additional as needed
6 ounces (171 g) thick-cut or slab bacon, diced into ½-inch cubes or pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, thick stalks cut in half lengthwise, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
2 small bay leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound (456 g) russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾-inch dice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup (237 ml) half & half
1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Preparing corn: To cut the corn off the cob safely and without scattering kernels, place the stalk end of the corn cob into the hole in the middle of a bundt pan (or tube cake pan) or on a rimmed baking sheet with a damp towel under the corn. Holding the corn cob firmly and vertically by the tip, slice downward with a sharp knife removing the kernels in strips, turning the cob before each cut. Run a dull knife over each cob to extract corn milk over a small bowl and set aside along with the uncooked corn kernels and cobs.
Preparing chicken broth: Pour the broth into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Break each cut cob in half and add to the broth along with the reserved corn milk. Reduce heat and simmer broth for 30 minutes. Turn off heat, discard cobs and set aside.
Preparing vegetables: While the broth simmers, in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, fry the bacon until it is crisp, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove bacon to paper towel-lined plate and set aside for garnish.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings, reserving additional drippings of another use. Add onion and celery to the bacon drippings remaining in the pot and over low heat sweat the vegetables in the rendered bacon fat until softened and translucent but not browned, about 10 minutes.
Assembling chowder: Measure the broth. If you have less than 4 cups, add water as necessary to measure 4 cups. Add broth to the vegetables, corn kernels, bay leaves, thyme and salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to medium low so chowder simmers and cook until corn kernels and vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add potatoes and cook for another 10 minutes until tender.
Preparing and adding beurre manié: Combine equal parts of all-purpose flour and softened unsalted butter in bowl. Using spatula or fork, mash to a uniform paste.
Remove 1 ladle of hot broth to a small bowl and whisk in beurre manié until completely dissolved. Add mixture to chowder one tablespoon at a time and simmer until broth has started to thicken, 2 to 3 minutes, stopping when the desired thickness is reached.
Adding dairy: While the chowder simmers, in a small pan combine heavy cream and half & half and heat over medium heat until bubbles start to form around the edge of the pan. Remove from heat.
Remove chowder from heat. Stir in the cream mixture until the broth is uniformly creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly and set aside for 20 minutes for flavors to meld.
Ladle hot chowder into individual bowls and top each serving with bacon bits and minced parsley.
Makes 8 cups, serves 6
*50 Chowders, Jason White, Scribners, 2002.
One year ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/monkfish-shrimp-rice-arroz-de-tamboril-com-gambas/
Two years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/viennese-poppy-seed-torte-mohntorte/
Three years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/cranberry-cream-tart/
Four years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/german-apple-cake-gedeckter-apfelkuchen/
Five years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/spiral-stromboli-three-fillings/
Six years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/istanbul-and-turkish-meze/
Seven years ago:http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/norwegian-pear-cake-not-lost-in-translation/