Corn Chowder, pure comfort food...

Over the weekend we had the best dinner of Bar-B-Que Shrimp, a great tossed green salad and some wonderful sweet corn I found at the farmers market. Everything was so good and there wasn't a single shrimp left over but there were 6 ears of corn not touched. Now I don't blame anyone, who wants veggies when you have all you can eat shrimp. Actually I am kind of glad it's still here because, today being a cool day with thoughts of fall coming in the air, I am going to cook a pot of my favorite soup, Corn Chowder! This is a wonderful soup for days like today or even in the dead of winter when I use bagged frozen corn. Serve it with your favorite crackers or crusty bread and it becomes the perfect comfort food, it sure is for my family.

Jeanne's Corn Chowder (careful even reading the recipe goes to your hips)

Clean and shuck 6 or 8 ears of fresh corn and cut off all the kernels with a sharp knife. Scrap down the cobs, after removing the corn, into the bowl so you don't miss any of the creamy goodness left on the cob.
Cook up 6 slices of bacon until crispy and remove from the pan saving the bacon drippings.
Into the bacon drippings add 2 tablespoons of butter for flavor,
Add a medium onion chopped small to the pan and cook ten minutes to soften the onion.
Peel and chop to bite size pieces three potatoes. Add to the cooking onions.
Add one can of chicken broth/stock or vegetable if you prefer to the pan.
Add one cup of milk to the pan. Stir well and add salt and pepper to your taste. I like a lot of pepper in mine.
Stir in all of the corn and corn scrapings to the mixture in the pan and taste again to see if it needs more salt and pepper.
Lower the temp to low and let it cook thoroughly into potatoes and all the corn is tender. Don't cover because you don't want boil overs and you want the liquid to reduce just a little.
At the end stir in one cup of heavy cream, a tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley and the crumbled crispy bacon.
Serve hot with your favorite sides and enjoy.
P.S. A long walk around the block after dinner always helps with the zillion yet wonderful calories.

Shrimp, Glorious Bar-B-Que Shrimp...

With company coming this weekend I have decided to pull out one of my favorite recipes. I found this about 5 years ago in Southern Living and it became an instant favorite to all that tried it that night. It is one of those recipes that everyone asks for, so before I start claiming it again as my own, here it is. It's warm, wonderful, spicy, mmm mmm good Bar-B-Que Shrimp. It is super easy once you gather all the ingredients. The shrimp can get a bit pricey so I keep it in my freezer when I can get it for deals. When we go to the Outer Banks of North Carolina each September we always make a trip to the shrimp boats and look for good prices. It is so very fresh that way, we buy around twenty five pounds, pack it on ice, and when we get home we pack them in freezer zip lock bags and then fill the bags up with cold water before sealing them. If you fill a bag up with water before you freeze any shrimp or other fish, they stay as fresh as can be since freezer burn can't get through the water in the bag. Try it, it works and you'll have fresh seafood in your freezer all year round.

Southern Bar-B-Que Shrimp
Fabulous served with Crusty French Bread or on top of Creamy Grits
Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients
5 or 6 pounds unpeeled, large fresh shrimp
1 cup butter
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 lemons, cut in wedges
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce or more to your liking

Spread shrimp in a shallow, aluminum foil-lined broiler pan.
Combine butter and next 12 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until butter melts, and pour over shrimp. Cover and chill 2 hours, turning shrimp every 30 minutes.

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes; turn once. Serve with bread or grits.

Pour it into a big bowl on the table and let your company help themselves. Have lots of spoons for dipping that rich, buttery sauce so they can dip their bread into it as they eat the shrimp. Suck off the seasonings before you peel the shrimp and you will be happy you did. Great with either a terrific glass of wine or a cold beer.

I hope you love this as much as we do and if you smell them cooking on Saturday night, ya'll come!