Country Chowder

Mom actually told me about this recipe as we were headed home from the Texas A&M game. The cold front was moving in and soup sounded like the perfect Sunday night dinner. A former co-worker of my mom's, Christy Jordan, is the author of the hugely popular cooking blog, Southern Plate. Her first cookbook is already out and she has a second on the way. According to mom, this recipe will be featured in the second cookbook.

Image from Southern Plate

Country Chowder

Ingredients

• 8 cups chicken broth (see post on economical ways to get this)
• 1 pound mild or spicy pork breakfast sausage
• 4 Russet Potatoes, washed and cubed with skins on
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 12 ounce bag frozen pepper and onion blend - (or 1/2 cup diced onion & 1 diced bell pepper)
• 2 cups corn
• 2 cups chopped turnip greens (fresh or frozen, can substitute spinach)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup instant potato flakes
• Seasonings
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1+1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (Go easy here if you use hot sausage)

Instructions

1. Place chicken broth in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Add potatoes, carrots, and corn.
2. In a large skillet also over medium high heat, chop up and brown sausage until fully cooked and no longer pink in the center. Move sausage to side of the skillet and add in frozen pepper blend to the other side. Cook for three to four minutes, or until fully thawed.
3. Stir together sausage and pepper blend and cook for another three or four minutes before adding to stock pot. Stir well.
4. Add in turnip greens and all other seasonings and bring to a gentle boil.
5. Allow to simmer fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Pour in cream and add potato flakes. Stir well. Simmer five to ten minutes more.

Serve hot with a hearty bread. Leftovers are even better the next day.

I did make a few changes to the recipe. I omitted the sausage, used 1/2 cup instant potatoes and substituted the 2 cups of cream with 1 cup of fat free half and half. It turned out well!

Auburn/Georgia preview coming later today!