Southwestern Corn Chowder

On July 18, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn New Mexico, Recipes5 Comments

When we were in Sante Fe, New Mexico, we had a very tasty grilled corn and chipotle soup. We asked the restaurant for the recipe and they were nice enough to print it out and give it to us. Since corn is in season right now, we decided to recreate this recipe, but we changed it up to suit our tastes. We really liked the way that our version turned out, it had just the right amount of spice. One of the nice things about a recipe like this is that you can control the amount of heat that you add so that it can be more or less spicy depending upon your taste. Also, the combination of the fresh corn and frozen corn makes for a mix of crunchy and soft that makes the texture of the soup very pleasurable. We served ours with a nice toasted baguette bread, but a fried tortilla like the restaurant used would also be good. We also garnished ours with a couple of slices of jalapeno that had been deseeded, but clearly it isn’t necessary. This recipe serves two, but it could easily be adjusted to serve more. We hope that you enjoy it!

INGREDIENTS

5 Ears of Fresh Corn
8 oz of Frozen Corn
1/3 can of Chipotle Peppers with Sauce – finely chopped
1/4 cup Red Onion – chopped
3 cups Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp White Pepper
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Butter
Salt to Taste – generous amount
Black Pepper to Taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Remove the corn kernels from the husks of fresh corn and sauté them in a cast-iron skillet heated over medium-high heat with the oil and butter. If you prefer, you could grill the corn whole on a grill and then remove the kernels, but we chose to cook them in the skillet. Salt and pepper the corn and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, and then add the red onion to the corn. Cook for another 5 minutes and then remove from heat. In a medium sauce pan, add the cream, corn and onions, frozen corn, white pepper, cumin, garlic, and salt. Add about a third of the chipotle peppers with sauce and start heating the soup over medium heat. You want to just bring the soup to a slight simmer and avoid bringing to a full boil. Taste the soup and continue to slowly add chipotle peppers with sauce until it is as spicy as you would like.

Unconventional Food in Chicago

On January 3, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Chicago, Recipes4 Comments

We have been to Chicago several times and have eaten traditional foods such as deep dish pizza, Chicago-style hot dogs, and Italian beef hoagies. During our most recent trip, the temperatures averaged below 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 degrees Celsius) with wind chill temperatures that were between -15 and -25 degrees Fahrenheit (-26 and -32 degrees Celsius). With temperatures that cold, it was hard not to just have soup to keep us warm, which we did a few times. We had a variety of food from Italian, American, and even Irish. We did have a pizza, but we not big fans of deep dish pizzas, so we chose a thin crust pizza.

Frozen River from the Michigan Street Bridge

Curry Deviled Eggs with Pickled Radish and Caviar

Of the things that we ate, some of our favorites were a seafood pasta with black linguini as well as homemade ravioli. One of our favorite restaurants to visit when we go to Chicago is Ditka’s, which is a traditional steakhouse, but we tend to eat lighter meals when we go there. We actually visited twice and did have a steak, but we also had oyster shooters and then later had a crab bisque, filet mignon sliders, as well as a delicious raspberry cheesecake.

We always try to find an Irish Pub during our travels and Chicago is certainly a great place to find one. We ended up going to the Emerald Loop, also a couple of times, and had a wonderful Irish breakfast, corned beef sandwich, and a seafood curry, which they considered to be an Irish dish. You may wonder why we went to the same places more than once during our visit and the answer is quite simple, it was too cold to walk around and go exploring and the Emerald Loop was less than a five minute walk away and we went to Ditka’s for dinner and then later for afternoon snacks.

Overall, our visit to Chicago was wonderful as always, despite the frigid temperatures. We look forward to our next visit to Chicago, although it will likely be during a warmer season. Chicago has such a wonderful variety of food and it is definitely a place where you can find things to eat that will suit any palate.

Blue Island Oyster Bar and Seafood in Denver, Colorado

On October 25, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Food2 Comments

We were spending the weekend in Denver and had heard about a seafood restaurant that was celebrating “Oystoberfest” for the entire month of October. The Blue Island Oyster Bar in the Cherry Creek area of Denver has an excellent happy hour every day and a wonderful selection of fresh seafood. One of the things that we learned during our time in Frankfurt, Germany, is that cities have an airport that is a major hub, restaurants can get deliveries of fresh seafood on the same day that the fish are caught. Denver is no different as it is centrally located and can receive seafood from both coasts daily. Blue Island has partnered with Blue Island Shellfish Farms in New York to get their seasonal oysters and other seafood delivered as fresh as possible.

We have mentioned previously that we don’t typically eat a large meal, but eat a few small plates to try as many different foods as possible. Obviously we had to get oysters and they were so good that we ended up getting a second dozen before the night was over. The menu stated that their clam chowder was the “City’s Best Clam Chowder”, so we had to give that a try as well as some chilled shrimp. The clam chowder was nice and thick with a lot of clams and the flavor was wonderful. There were a lot of other choices on the menu and based on the food that we did try, we are sure that you couldn’t go wrong with anything that you might choose. Their prices were very reasonable, especially considering the quality of the food, and we would definitely recommend them to anyone visiting Denver and looking for fresh seafood.