Tomato Corn Chowder

Comfort food.

Every family has special recipes they remember their mother making--those dishes that signify all the love and care their mother put into cooking everyday--that's comfort food to me.

This Tomato Corn Chowder is one of those dishes.

In this case, the dish was made by my mother's father--we called him Norwalk Jichan.

When my mother was growing up, it was her father that did all the family's cooking.

Tomato Corn Chowder is his recipe.

Everyone in my family loves Tomato Corn Chowder.

I remember the first time I had it at my sister's house--

"You make this, too!"

I've also heard my brother Warren talk about this dish, I think he makes it too.

Ingredients:

4 cups tomatoes, skins removed and chopped or crushed

2 slices bacon, chopped and fried until crisp

1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped

1 generous teaspoon brown sugar

1 large clove garlic, minced or 1 tablespoon crushed roasted garlic

1 or 2 ears of fresh corn, cut off the cob

 optional:

1 small potato, peeled and diced

chicken or vegetable broth

I think the recipe tastes the best with home grown tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, but I've seen a family member make it with canned tomatoes too.

My mother-in-law gave me a big bag of cherry tomatoes, they worked well in this recipe--I didn't even mind peeling them.

Immerse the tomatoes into boiling water for a few seconds.

The skin will loosen and they will be easy to peel.

Roughly chop or crush the tomatoes and set aside.

Slice 2 slices of bacon thinly.

Fry the bacon until crisp.

Drain fat.

Add 1/2 cup chopped onions.

I'm making triple the recipe, so my quantities will be larger.

Saute until the onions become soft and translucent.

Crush or mash roasted garlic, measure about 1 tablespoon, and add to the pot.

The last time we barbecued, I roasted several heads of garlic, popped them out of the husks and keep them in the refrigerator.

An optional addition--one that my mother doesn't add--is one small diced potato.

Add the potato to the pot and saute for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes.

Cut the corn off the cob.

Scrape the cob with the dull side of your knife--the remaining parts of the kernel will come off onto your knife.

The cob will look perfectly clean, a sign you've gotten all the corn.

Add the corn to the soup.

When the soup starts to boil, skim the foam that appears on the surface and discard.

Simmer gently until the potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If the chowder is too strong, my mom adds a little bit of chicken or vegetable broth, but I didn't add any.

My dad brought over 2 bags of the last of his corn for the summer--along with my mother-in-law's tomatoes, made for some delicious Tomato Corn Chowder.

I'll have to make another batch to share, I'm sure this one will be gone in no time!

Itadakimasu!

***

This is a picture of Norwalk Jichan and four of his children. 

Uncle Kats and Uncle Bill are not pictured.

The baby is David, Uncle Tommy's son, who is now in his thirties, I think.

My mom is on the right.

My mom said she learned how to cook by watching her dad, since he did all the cooking in their family.


I remember it was a long drive to Norwalk, and we knew we were almost there when we'd pass dairies and smell the cows.

While the smell of cows is not exactly a good smell, for me it's not a bad smell since it reminds me of my Norwalk grandparents.


When I was little, we went to Norwalk Jichan's house for the 4th of July.

We had a special spot that we'd light the 'snakes'--fireworks that would expand into long black snakes--they would make a mess and leave dark, black marks on the concrete, year-to-year evidence for us of our get-togethers.

We'd also go to Norwalk in December to make mochi.

I remember Norwalk Bachan's hands could withstand a lot of heat from the mochi--she would portion the mochi with her hands when it was piping hot straight from the machine.

I might have hands like hers--mine can withstand a lot of heat too.


Whenever we would go to visit them, Norwalk Jichan gave us popsicles.

We got to eat a whole one--the kind we had to break in half at home--we knew we were special to be able to get a whole popsicle.

Norwalk Jichan used to call popsicles "Ice Candy".


When I'm a grandma, I'm going to have Ice Candy in my freezer for when my grandchildren come over--just like my mom and just like Norwalk Jichan.


***

Ingredients:

4 cups tomatoes, skins removed and chopped or crushed

2 slices bacon, chopped and fried until crisp

1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped

1 generous teaspoon brown sugar

1 large clove garlic, minced or 1 tablespoon crushed roasted garlic

1 or 2 ears of fresh corn, cut off the cob

 optional:

1 small potato, peeled and diced

chicken or vegetable broth

Remove the skin from the tomatoes, roughly chop or crush them and set aside. Chop and fry bacon until crisp, drain the fat, and saute 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 clove minced garlic or 1 tablespoon mashed roasted garlic and corn cut off the cob. Add optional diced potato and saute until translucent. 

Add crushed tomatoes, a generous teaspoon of brown sugar and bring to boil. Skim foam as necessary. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.