By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up
www.globalgourmets.ca michael@globalgourmets.ca
Jimmy Crack Corn……
Jimmy Crack Corn was a black face minstrel song first performed in the United States in 1840 and it remains popular today as a children’s song . It brings to mind cornfields now in full harvest mode lining all our country highways and byways. Corn has been used as a source of food as far back as prehistoric times and was cultivated extensively in the Americas as far back as 2500BC. It eventually spread to Europe in the late 15th and early 16th century. Today corn or maize is the most widely grown grain in the Americas. The varieties of corn that we find in our markets are the sweet corn varieties, while field corn varieties are used for animal feed.
This recipe is as delicious as it is comforting and is definitely a meal in itself when accompanied by a fresh summer salad of assorted greens and a simple light lemony vinaigrette…….Enjoy!
Sweet Corn and Seafood Chowder
Ingredients
4 or 5 slices of smoked bacon cut into small strips
3 tablespoons softened butter
3/4 cup finely chopped leek
1 pound small red potatoes, quartered
! red pepper julienned thinly
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
4 ears shucked corn
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
½ tsp chipotle chilli puree
3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup half-and-half
Flaked crab meat, shrimp, scallops
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
Sauté bacon until it is crispy. Remove from pan leaving bacon fat in the pan. Add butter and sauté leeks just until they soften. Add in potatoes and red pepper and cook for a couple of minutes. Add thyme, chicken stock corn and chipotle puree to taste. Cook until potatoes start to get tender. At this point remove about a cup of the mixture and puree in a blender then return to the pot., Add in milk and half and half. Continue cooking just until the potatoes are cooked. Add in your seafood just before serving and cook just until they are cooked being careful not to overcook. Garnish the bowels with chopped chives
