Spicy Shrimp/Corn & Potato Soup

Enjoy the final days of fresh summer corn in this recipe

Spicy Shrimp/Corn & Potato Soup
• 5 slices bacon saving the grease OR use 1 TBS of oil
• 2 TBS butter
• 1 c chopped green onion
• ½ c chopped celery
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 lg potato peeled and diced
• 1- 7oz can of mild green chilies
• 2 cups milk (I used skim milk & ½ & ½ because that’s what I had)
• 3 TBS flour
• 3 cups of chicken broth
• 2 cups of fresh corn kernels (I used 4 ears of white corn)
• 1 lb of thawed peeled and deveined “small” shrimp
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1 tsp of Mexican seasoning
• ½ tsp of cayenne pepper
• ¼ c of fresh cilantro
• Salt & pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
1. GO GET ALL YOUR INGREDIENTS…and now open, measure, chop, and get everything all done and ready to go…
2. Now, in a large dutch oven or soup pot, take the slices of bacon and cook them. Once cooked remove the bacon, and chop and put aside…but keep the bacon grease in the pot! Now add 2 TBS of butter to the bacon grease (yes, you can leave the whole bacon process out if you wish) and sauté the onions, celery, red pepper for 2-3 minutes until tender.
3. Now add the canned green chilies and cook another minute.
4. Take the milk and put in a bowl & add the 3 TBS of flour and whisk the flour together with the milk and pour on top of the veggies.
5. Then add the Chicken broth, corn, potatoes and seasoning and bring to a boil.
6. Continue cooking for another 20 mins on medium heat, stirring intermittently.
7. As potatoes get soft, add the shrimp and continue to cook another 10 minutes.
8. Add Cilantro and then serve
9. Add cheese Quesadillas to make it a great meal!!! Enjoy!!!
***** thanks to Cooking Light for the recipes***

Can I freeze Corn on the Cob???

It’s one of my favorite times of the year…the time of the year when corn is plentiful!! I LOVE sweet corn and I never put anything on it…it’s “virginal”, if you will!

Unfortunately, the season is a small one…we wait and wait and next thing you know, they are using the old corn as decorations for Halloween…sooooooo, what can we do?????

Well, my bloggers, there is an answer…YOU CAN FREEZE fresh corn!!!

All you need is a BIG pot of boiling water, and then another BIG pot of cold water WITH ice… in the cooking world this process is called “blanching”…it’s like going from a hot jacuzzi into a cold plunge!!! bbrrrrrr….but what it does is it stops the cooking process!

So, take the husks off the corn and take away those silky hairs.  Clean it of with a vegetable brush if you like and then, when the water is boiling in a BIG pot, put in the corn and keep them in the boiling water for about 5-7 mins.  Then take them out and immediately plunge them into the BIG pot with the cold water and ice and keep them in there for the same amount of time!

Once you have done that, the BEST product to use is a “food saver with  vacuum sealing!!! I LOVE this product, but if you don’t have one than a freezer Ziploc bag will work fine. The most important thing about Ziploc is that you have to make sure you get ALL the air out of it, otherwise you can get freezer burn.  Get a straw and suck the air out of it…that does work!!

Once this is done, then label the corn and into the freezer it goes.   When the time comes and you are hankering for fresh corn, just take it out and put it into boiling water for about 5 minutes and you will be as happy as a pig in…well, you know!!!!