Dorie Greenspan/ easy everyday/ Gluten free/ Simmer/ Soup/ summer

Fresh-Off-The-Cob Corn Chowder | Everyday Dorie

This is a win-win fresh corn chowder from Everyday Dorie. If you’re concerned about food waste in your own home, this fresh-off-the-cob corn chowder scores a high mark. Not only you cook with the corn kernels, the cobs (usually discarded) are also used to flavor the soup.

I use white corn, as you can tell from the light color of my chowder. Although it is not the best-looking eye-catching yellow tone of most corn chowder, but don’t let that fool you. The outrageously sweet and fresh local Jersey white corn is winning — by a mile.

The soup base is a mix of aromatic vegetables and herbs: onion, garlic, fresh rosemary, thyme and fennel. In addition, what’s chowder without the starchy potatoes to thicken the base? All in all, I have to say this corn chowder is an improvement from my latest version.

Dorie has the fantastic idea of a two-step approach to build the fresh-corn flavor. First, you puree the corn and vegetables once they are cooked through. Later, you add a second batch of fresh corn and vegetables to add crunch and texture to the creamy puree.

The resulting chowder takes on a complexity like no other: silky and chunky, creamy with hearty bites of sweet corn in every spoonful. What you have to do is to prepare two separate batches of fresh corn kernels and follow Dorie’s two-step cooking process. Voila, fresh-off-the-cob corn chowder at its best!

The finishing touches are the bacon bits, the optional half-and-half, and the last scattering of herbs. If you want a vegetarian chowder, skip the bacon. Then substitute with pesto, chili oil or some grated Parmesan. Dorie also recommends using chunks of fresh shrimp, lobster or slices of raw scallop. Afterall, seafood has the advantage of quick or no cooking at all. I’m always fond of cooking and eating the corn and seafood combo.

The last scattering of chunky potato, bacon bits and fresh herbs

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13 Comments

  • Reply
    Andréa Janssen
    August 9, 2019 at 8:52 am

    It sure looks delicious!

  • Reply
    dulceshome
    August 9, 2019 at 12:47 pm

    So happy you thoroughly enjoyed your chowder!! Fresh local corn is the best!!

  • Reply
    steph (whisk/spoon)
    August 9, 2019 at 4:41 pm

    looks great with the white corn. i do want to try this with scallops sometime.

  • Reply
    Chez Nana
    August 10, 2019 at 9:10 am

    This was really a delicious chowder. A little bit time consuming prepping all the vegetables, but after that it really went quickly. I will definitely be making this again before the summer is over.

  • Reply
    Katie from ProfWhoCooks
    August 10, 2019 at 9:25 am

    I also used white corn and lamented a little bit the not great color of the dish. But who cares when it’s that tasty, eh? Looks great, Shirley!

  • Reply
    Lillian Tse
    August 10, 2019 at 7:50 pm

    oh white corn! That is different but, hey as long as it’s tasty that is good right?

    Love having access to fresh local corn.

  • Reply
    joycekitchenflavours
    August 11, 2019 at 12:59 am

    We’ve enjoyed this chowder too! So sweet from the juicy sweet corns!

  • Reply
    Emily
    August 11, 2019 at 11:03 am

    Looking great still despite the lighter color. Seafood corn chowder sounds inviting.

  • Reply
    Mary Hirsch
    August 11, 2019 at 11:09 am

    I always love reading your thoughtful posts, Joyce. Whether using white corn or Colorado’s Olathe yellow corn, this dish was not easy to photograph. Yes, it was delicious albeit a bit labor-intensive. I am trying to figure out if I can shorten the steps and still produce the same good textures and tastes.

  • Reply
    betsy
    August 13, 2019 at 4:39 pm

    I thought this was delicious too! I thought I used bi-color corn, but mine was pale like yours. Who cares. It tastes so good. It’s hard to convince me to do more than eat corn right off the cob, but this recipe is worth it.

  • Reply
    isthisakeeper
    August 15, 2019 at 4:23 pm

    I agree, this was good…even with the somewhat time consuming prep. I enjoyed using the cobs in the preparation…something different to try!

  • Reply
    Tricia S
    August 17, 2019 at 11:06 am

    Wasn’t this fabulous ?? YUM. I love the appearance of the white corn- it actually looked very sophisticated to me. It also had me enjoying memories of the Jersey produce from the many years that I lived in Central NJ while growing up. I also love the bowls you served this with – you made a tough to photograph but delicious soup look amazing !

  • Reply
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