Corn and Chanterelle Chowder

Ingredients

• 6 oz bacon (optional)
• 1 ea onion, small dice
• 2 stalks celery, small dice
• 2 cloves garlic, small dice
• 1 ea shallot, small dice
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 ea yellow fleshed potatoes, small dice
• 3 ears sweet corn
• 0.5 lbs chanterelle mushrooms (1.5g dried)
• 1 ea bay leaf
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 sprigs thyme, chopped
• 1 ea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. 1
   Grill the corn: Soak the ears with the husk on in a large pot of cold water for about 15 minutes (you want the husk to absorb the water). Place the wet ears directly on the grill over medium heat and allow to cook about 5 to 7 minutes, until the husks are nicely browned on all sides. Allow the corn to cool slightly, then shuck and remove kernels. Reserve the cobs. (Set aside some of the kernels for garnish). Put cobs in a stock pot, cover with 2 quarts water, and simmer 1 hour. Strain and reserve liquid (should yield about 2 quarts). OR Pull out local, frozen corn from your freezer and add to stock pot as above!
2. 2
   If using dried mushrooms, rehydrate them in warm water. In a medium saucepan, saute the chanterelles in butter at medium-high heat until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. (Reserve some of the chanterelle pieces for garnish.) Add the bacon to the saucepan and saute until most of the fat is rendered and it starts to brown. Remove bacon but leave the fat in the pan.
3. 3
   Sweat onions, celery, garlic, and shallots in the bacon fat. (If you’re not using bacon fat, use 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil.) When the vegetables are translucent, add flour to make a light roux (this will help thicken the chowder). Add the 2 quarts of corn stock, diced potatoes and bay leaf. Bring to simmer until vegetables are tender. In another pan, reduce heavy cream by one-quarter and add to the corn stock. Add roasted corn, chanterelles, bacon, and fresh thyme to the corn stock. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Tips: Garnish with a few roasted corn kernels and/or chanterelle pieces.