Robin Camille Davis
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Chicken corn chowder recipe

January 31, 2009
Tags: food

Still no camera chez moi. I'll run over to Deven's and grab it sometime. It takes about 40 minutes to get from my studette (small studio apartment) to his, all told. That sounds like a long time, but it doesn't feel like it.

There's something about time in Paris. How much time something takes to do doesn't really matter. I don't mind walking to the boucher (butcher), boulanger (baker), and épicerie (candlestick — I mean, small grocery store) instead of one-stop-shopping at Monoprix, which is "the Walmart of France" as Deven put it, though it's still nowhere near as grotesquely huge as Walmart. It's nice to walk the streets, baguette under one arm, bag of oignons (onions) and poulet (chicken) in the other, enjoying the sun as the sky finally clears.

So this poulet I had was for dinner tonight. I made chicken corn chowder for Deven and myself, and while I usually downplay my cooking prowess (since I usually have none to speak of), I made some friggin' delicious chowder tonight. I thought I might share the recipe, which was originally from Martha Stewart's Favorite Comfort Foods but which I tweaked.

Chicken corn chowder
1/2 lb. chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, peeled and diced (it looks like a lot but will disappear)
3 cans chicken stock, or 3 chicken bouillon cubes in 5 cups water
1 can of corn
2 fingerling potatoes
2 cups half-and-half
Generous pinches of salt and pepper
Really generous pinches of thyme, thrown in at random

  1. Cook chicken, seasoning with salt, pepper, and thyme. Set aside for later, as you only have 1 little hot plate in your tiny appartement.
  2. In 2 tbsp of chicken stock, cook onion, salt, pepper, and thyme on medium heat until onions are transparent (8 mins).
  3. Add rest of stock, bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer 10 mins. Play Zelda because you are bored.
  4. Add corn, potatoes, and chicken. Cook until potatoes are tender (10 mins).
  5. Remove from heat. Cool soup to tepid, otherwise your shoddy homemade half-and-half might curdle when you pour it in, and you'll shriek and spill some. You really must find what half-and-half is in French instead of guessing, buying heavy cream instead, then mixing it with milk. It will work, though.
  6. Pour in half-and-half while stirring. Make "mmm!" noises. Sprinkle in some more thyme, for kicks and giggles. Simmer until hot. Serve with pain tigré, this really great bread your boyfriend found at the boulangerie.

Serves 4 normal people, or 2 ravenous people with leftovers for lunch. Takes about 1 hour 15 minutes.

PS. We'll see how long this non-fluo color scheme lasts. It matches the scarf I bought today at Galleries Lafayette.