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Corn Chowder (Can corn or an equal quantity)
1/2 can corn, or an equal quantity of fresh corn, or 1/4 cup dried corn stewed till tender. (The dried corn makes the best chowder.) 1 cup diced potato 1 small onion diced, and cooked in 1/2 tablespoon oil or butter 1 pint hot milk 3/4 teaspoon salt Cook potato and browned onion in three-fourths cup water till the potato is tender. Add remaining ingredients, and heat together a few minutes.
A plain milk chowder that comes together in about half an hour. The proportions are for two generous servings or three small ones.
- Half a can of cornCanned corn of the period came in several sizes, commonly around a pint or a little more, so half a can is roughly a cup of drained kernels. One standard modern 15-oz can gives you a little more than the recipe wants; use the whole thing if you like a thicker chowder.
- Dried cornThe note that dried corn makes the best chowder is sound and still worth acting on. Dried sweet corn keeps a concentrated, almost toasted sweetness that canned corn loses. Soak 1/4 cup in water for an hour, then simmer until tender, 30-45 minutes, before it goes in.
- A pint of hot milkTwo cups. Heat it separately rather than pouring it cold onto the hot potato, which drops the temperature and invites scorching on the bottom of the pan.
- Do not let it boilOnce the milk is in, keep the pan below a simmer. Hard boiling risks scorching on the bottom of the pan and a skinned, grainy texture. "Heat together a few minutes" means exactly that.
- Brown the onion properlyThe recipe says browned onion, not softened. Take the diced onion in the oil to a real golden colour before the water goes in; that browning is most of the flavour in a chowder with no pork or stock behind it.
- Water quantityThree-fourths cup is barely enough to cover 1 cup of diced potato. Cut the potato small, about 1/2-inch dice, keep the lid on, and it will cook through in 10-12 minutes without the pan going dry.
- SeasoningThree-fourths teaspoon salt is modest for four cups of finished chowder. Taste after the milk goes in, and black pepper is a reasonable addition even though the original omits it.