Rainy Day Potato and Ham Chowder

I'm soooooo in love with this soup.

And I'm sooooo in love with this pot.

Seriously, it's just the best thing and it's my yellow!

It combines all of my favorite things;

potatoes, ham, garlic, and rosemary!

Delicious.

My mom had cooked a ham,
and like me, when she cooks it's for a group, 
not just the one or two people that actually live in the home.
I'm going to apologize to my vegetarian and vegan friends,
because this is going to be one in a couple of ham related recipe posts.
To everyone else...
seriously, you need to make this!

There is nothing really healthy to this recipe,
except that it's all natural and made from scratch.
So there is that.
But on a drizzly day,
this is a perfect, hardy meal for a Chambers.

Rainy Day Potato and Ham Chowder

Recipe modified from Recipe Knead
I like my chowder to be filled with potato goodness,
so I've upped quite a few things in my modifications.

4 slices thick-cut bacon

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp of garlic powder)

1 onion, diced

2 cups frozen corn kernels

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary- chopped 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 1/2- 5 cups milk, or more, as needed

4-5 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2-3 cups of cooked ham, diced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cooking Directions:

1) Heat a thick-bottom pot over or Dutch over medium high heat. Add diced bacon and cook until brown and super crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Remove crispy bacon onto a paper towel.  Drain the bacon grease. (Heck.  Save that goodness for something else.)

2) Use the same pot.  It has all of the  Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in corn and thyme until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

3) Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes.

4) Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes. Stir in ham, salt and pepper, to taste. If the chowder is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.

5) Serve immediately, garnished with bacon, if desired.

Enjoy!

Believe me, you will.

Easter Brunch: Potato Casserole

I really wanted to label this "Crack Potatoes"
because that's what I refer to them as...crack.
I thought that I should title this dish something other than
Crack Potatoes...
because that makes it sound bad.
People who know me,
know that I refer to things that are amazing as crack.
I've never understood why people use drugs...
 It's never been something that sounded fun or exciting,
but food...
and amazingly, delicious food...
now that sounds fun and exciting to me.
That is exactly what this dish is...
amazingly delicious and additive.

This is one of those recipes that you can take to any brunch and it's a mega hit.
People will say, "Yum!"
People will go back for seconds.
And people will ask for the recipe.
Go ahead and give it to them...
unlike actual crack, the only side-effect of this is a full and happy tummy.

Potato Casserole
A.K.A. Crack Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 lbs. frozen cubed hash browns
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbls. minced onion
1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom)
1 pint (16 oz) sour cream
1/4 cup melted butter
2-3 cups of corn flakes

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees
2. Place the corn flakes in a seal-able plastic bag and crush them.
3. Melt the butter and pour it into the bag with the crushed corn flakes.  Mix it well, so that the corn flakes and butter are combined.
4. Spread hash browns easily in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
5. In a bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients.
6. Pour the mixture over the hash browns.
7. Spread the corn flakes and butter mixture over the top.
8. Bake for 45 minutes or until the edges of bubbly and the top in crunchy.
Enjoy!