Slow Cooker Chicken and Corn Chowder

Here we are on the last day of 2016 — I hope it’s been a happy year for you all!

So Meave and I returned home a few days ago from celebrating Christmas with her family in Baltimore. We both felt as if we’d caught a bit of a cold along the way and were trying to think of a good comfort food for dinner. She remembered a corn chowder that she used to get for lunch sometimes when she worked in midtown Manhattan. That sounded like an uplifting food option to both of us … and my parents had just given us a slow cooker for Christmas … so we decided to take a shot at a chicken-‘n’-corn chowder for our new slow cooker’s maiden voyage.

What we came up with is a slight adaptation of a recipe we found here at DamnDelicious.net. I want to share with you: This chowder was Super Good! I was a little apprehensive at a couple points along the way, but it ended up being delicious and smooth and warming. An excellent comfort food for a winter cold!

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 12 ounces of potato, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 small-to-medium carrots, diced
• 1 celery root (celeriac), diced
• 2 cups corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (Let’s be honest: I used 4 cloves.)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of minced fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• Pinch of dried cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste*
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives (for garnishing)

*The “salt to taste” part is important. If your stock includes salt, you may not need to add much extra salt at the end. In my case, however, I added a good bit of salt just before serving.

Directions

1) Place chicken, potatoes, onion, carrots, celery root, and corn into a 5-qt or 6-qt slow cooker.

2) Stir in chicken broth, garlic, thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper and bay leaf.

3) Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. Stir in the half-and-half and the butter during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.

4) The chowder is cooked when you can easily pierce the largest chunks of vegetable with a fork. When things reach that point, turn off the slow cooker and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, topped with chives, if desired.