Parmesan Corn Chowder (Recipe)

Ingredients

2 cups chopped peeled potato

1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 17-ounce can cream-style corn

Steps

1. In a large Dutch oven, stir together 2 cups water, the potato, carrot, celery, onion and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the margarine or butter.  Stir in the flour.  Add the milk all at once.  Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir for 1 minute more.

3. Add the cheese, stirring until it is melted.  Carefully add the cheese mixture to vegetable mixture.  Stir in the corn.  Heat the soup through, stirring occasionally.  Do not boil.

Tips:

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese will melt better and give the soup a smoother texture than prepackaged Parmesan.  You can use a food processor or grate it by rubbing a piece of cheese over grater.  A hand grated has tiny punched holes and rough, irregular edges, unlike the larger holes or smooth-edged slits of a shredder.  For 1 cup of grated cheese, you'll need 4 ounces of ungrated Parmesan cheese.

Chowder usually designates a thick soup made with milk.  Do the final heating over a medium to low heat to avoid boiling-and curdling-the milk.

To make preparation even easier and the soup lower in fat, omit the melting margarine step.  Instead, combine the milk, flour and cheese; stir into soup.

If desired, sprinkle crispy cooked, crumbled bacon over the top of each serving.

From : America's Best-Loved Community Recipes