Jamie All Week

Shrimp and Corn Chowder with Parsley, Bacon, and Red Chilies

As a child, I could never wait until Christmas to open my presents. Likewise, I was always greedily requesting my birthday gifts early in advance. I could never cut my mom a break. She’d find me rummaging through closets and other dark crevasses around the house for that “new Crayola box set” or “one year’s worth of Archie comics”. I think my unrelenting eagerness has been transfused to my diet. I have been impatiently waiting (since last fall) for all the summer fruits and vegetables to appear at the farmer’s markets. I’ve also been salivating over thoughts of watermelon salads, roasted artichokes, and corn chowda. I saw the most beautiful bunch of corn at the Alhambra farmer’s market almost two weeks ago and immediately snatched the remaining 5 cobs. This was pre-Jaime Oliver, mind you. I didn’t exactly have a game plan in mind for these succulent veggies. I just knew I wanted to revisit all the wonderful corn memories of summers past.

After my asparagus soup-incident (blender set on high + hot soup filled to the brim = nightmare), I have been a bit wary of making soups. But with fresh corn loafing around in my fridge, I knew that I wouldn’t have better chowder than one made with good quality kernels. Jamie has a corn and shrimp chowder recipe that sounded tasty. The recipe calls for bacon. That’s the magic word.

I was secretly hoping that I’d have to use the bacon fat somewhere in the soup.

I thoroughly read the recipe and found out that my gut instincts were correct: the recipe calls for rendering bacon fat to cook the potatoes and leeks in. Oh my fug. At that moment, the savory scent of bacon memories infiltrated my mind. Bacon, shrimp, corn, leeks, and potatoes– what could possibly go wrong? And in the end, [SPOILER ALERT] absolutely nothing did.

My best friend Diana stopped by with ½ pound of already cooked shrimp. I was too lazy to de-vein and peel raw shrimp. Jamie never said not to cut corners, anyway. With the shrimp out of the way, the soup-making was incredibly easy actually. It’s about two steps short of salad-making. After cooking everything in my pot, I added the chicken broth and cream and let the flavors come together before whirring everything together, this time with my Hamilton Beach immersion blender. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but it got the job done. Plus, it was nice to have chunks of potatoes and shrimp with each bite of soup.


An intimate experience with leeks.


This is what gives the soup flava.

The potatoes trying to get up in the mix.


Obligatory action shot. Also pictured: Homestyle white bean spread + chopped salad, both loosely based on other Jamie-recipes.


Shrimp and Sweet Corn Chowder
Serves 4-6
1 large leek
1 pound potatoes (I used new potatoes)
1 quart chicken broth, organic
olive oil
6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, free range or organic
12/3 cups frozen corn (I used fresh)
½ pound large shrimp, raw peeled (I used cooked)
11/4 cups heavy cream
sea salt & ground pepper
1 fresh red chile
6 cream or plain crackers
extra virgin olive oil

Cut ends of leek, quarter lengthways, wash under running water, and slice across thinly. Peel potatoes and chop them into 1-inch chunks. Pour chicken broth into saucepan and bring to boil.

Put a large casserole type pan (or pot) on high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Slice bacon and add to pan. Cook until golden and really crispy, letting all fat and flavor cook out onto the pan. Using tongs, remove and transfer bacon to plate, leaving fat in pan. Add leek and potatoes to pan and give them a good stir. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until leek has softened. Add corn and shrimp. Pour hot broth into pan with cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, halve seed and finely chop chile. Roughly break up crackers and place them on the plate next to the bacon. Take soup off heat and use a hand blender to ently whiz it up until you have a smooth but slightly chunky texture. Season more to taste.

Serve with chile, bacon, and crackers. (not mentioned: Parsley, which I added)


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