For lunch today I made corn chowder. I’ve never made it before but I needed to use the corn I picked up on Sunday from the Farmers Market.
I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. I think it will be even better tomorrow. One thing I’d probably do different next time is to either use whole milk instead of 2% or cut down on the lowfat milk and mix some heavy cream with it.

The recipe is after the photos. Note: I quadrupled the recipe because I like to have a lot of leftovers.

The picture below is step 2 of the recipe. You add the stripped corn cobs to the soup to help make the broth. They get removed after 30 minutes.

Corn Chowder Recipe

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I went to the Asian market (Sunset Super) yesterday and picked up a bushel of oysters for $29.99. We cooked them up on the grill for lunch.

There was too much for us to finish so with the leftovers I threw together an oyster chowder. I’ve never made it before but I winged it. I fried up some chopped bacon. After they cooked I removed them and cooked up some chopped celery, onions, carrots and bell peppers for about 10 minutes. Then I added some smashed garlic and cooked it for a minute. I then added a cup of white wine, 2 cups of heavy cream and some diced potatoes. I simmered it till the potatoes were cooked then added the leftover oysters and their juices. It was fantastic!

Photos of the chowder will hopefully be coming soon.

I’m making french fries and sweet potato fries as part of dinner tonite. I just bought this Progressive Vegetable/French Fry Cutter yesterday for like $12.00. So far it seems to work pretty well for a lightweight item. I’d really like to have one of these Weston Restaurant Quality French Fry Cutters
though. Feel free to send me one of these and I’ll be very grateful.

I’m gonna cook these in the oven instead of deep frying them. I lay them out on a baking sheet and put some oil and salt and pepper on them. They taste great.

A classic southern Thanksgiving and holiday side dish. Savory Scalloped Potatoes

Recipe follows the break:

Ingredients:
• 6 medium red skinned potatoes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 6 green onions, with 2 inches green, sliced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
• dash nutmeg
Preparation:
Lightly grease an 11×7-inch baking dish. Heat oven to 350°.
Peel potatoes; rinse well then slice thinly into a large bowl.
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Add sliced green onions and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in flour until smooth and bubbly. Add milk and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, until thick and bubbly. Stir in mustard and nutmeg. Pour the mixture over potatoes and mix well.
Pour the potato mixture into prepared baking dish; cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender.?Serves 4 to 6.

Michael Butler makes an Italian Chicken Dish called Pollo in Forno, also known as Oregano Chicken with Potatoes and Tomatoes. Recipe follows.

Ingredients:
1 chicken 3 to 3 1/2 pounds
1 pound potatoes
2 lemons
1 pound roma tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/2 to 1 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Wash chicken and cut into 18 pieces
peel potatoes and cut them into slices 1/4 inch thick. Put slices in a bowl of cold water until needed.
Cut the tomatoes into slices less than 1/2 inch thick. Remove seeds.
Lightly oil a baking dish.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Layer the potatoes over the bottom of the baking dish.
Sprinkle the potato slices with salt and pepper, then pour the lemon juice over them. Make a layer ov chicken pieces over the potatoes. Put a tomato slice over each piece of chicken.
Finely chop the garlic. Pour the olive oil into a small bowl, then add the garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano and salt to taste. Mix very well with a spoon. Pour the sauce over the tomato layer in the baking dish. Place dish in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes.
Remove from oven, let stand for 2 minutes, then serve.