What’s in your pantry?

Fall is in the air in East Tennessee, Braves are winning, pro-football kicks off tonight and I’m in the mood for our first pot of homemade soup of the season. Here’s a recipe I have played with and tweaked over the years, depending on what’s in my pantry. By the way, Momma Sturm’s pantry is considered bare if I don’t have a good supply of potatoes, onions, chicken stock, Rotel, olive oil, sugar, flour, salt pepper, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and peanut butter; my ingredients to conquer the world! Of course I have other seasonings and staples but if I get low on any of the above, my palms begin to sweat, right eye begins to twitch and my speaking voice raises three octaves…panic reigns!  Seriously, here’s the recipe; I encourage you to play with it and make it your own – enjoy!

Potato-Corn Chowder

5 – 8 medium sized potatoes, boiled in salted water, then drained (sometimes I add a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary from the garden into the boiling water, smells wonderful)

While potatoes are boiling, in a large stock pot, sauté large onion in butter, olive oil or bacon drippings. (Tonight I cooked 5 slices of bacon before I sauté the onions then used the drippings.)

Once onions are cooked clear, add 1/3 – 1/2 cup of all purpose flour (the more flour, the thicker the soup) stirring continually in the onion/oil mixture making of roux, this is your thickening agent for the soup. Then slowly add a box of chicken stock, I use low sodium, no MSG, stir continually. To this mixture add sweet Kernel corn, either frozen or canned, 1 can of Rotel tomatoes (you choose the variety according to heat), continue to stir, then add milk – 1 – 2 cups. (I typically rinse out my veggie cans with the milk the pour into soup mixture.) Bring mixture to slow simmer.

Once this mixture has reached the simmer stage, test the boiling potatoes, they should be tender, then add the tender, cooked potatoes to the soup mixture. Season with ground cumin and cilantro, salt and pepper to taste; For the final touch add your favorite cooking cheese, one that melts creamy and smooth. Gouda works well, Fontina, Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack or just plain Velvetta; I typically add a peppery cheese for added heat, but you can use use whatever you like. Sometimes when I’m low on cheese (heaven forbid) I sprinkle shredded cheese on each individual bowl; also, remember that bacon I cooked earlier for the drippings, it found its way into the soup right before I served it.

As you can see, my recipe writing style is just like my cooking style, a little of this, a pinch of that, not very exact! That’s what makes cooking and eating so exciting; no two pots of soup ever taste the same! Give it a try, go to your pantry, create some soup and make Irma proud!