Corn Chowder with Sweet Potatoes and Ham

It's finally chilly in Dallas, which means it's below 50 degrees, and we actually need to turn on our heat. Due to my love of cream, and all things Williams-Sonoma, this soup recipe was begging to be made.

From the Williams-Sonoma Website

http://tinyurl.com/3akews

Ingredients:

5 ears of corn, husks and silks removed
3 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup diced ham steak
2 1/2 cups diced yellow onion
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 large sweet potato (~1 lb) peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce (like Tobasco)

Directions:

Strip off corn kernels from 3 ears of corn with a knife, set aside.

With the remaining kernels, score each strip of kernels with a knife along the length of the ear. Using the back of a knife, scrape down the length of the ear to squeeze out the pulp from the scored kernels. Set aside.

Melt butter over medium heat in a dutch oven, add ham and cook about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl using a slotted spoon.

Add onion and bell pepper to the pot, cover and cook 10 minutes or until tender. Add broth, sweet potato, and salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes, partially covered. Add ham and corn kernels, cover and cook 10 minutes or until potato is tender. Stir in corn pulp, cream, and hot pepper sauce. Cook until heated through, 3-4 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Makes 8 servings.

So here's my review:

Wow, getting the corn pulp was super messy - I had corn splattered on the walls! This is definately not a recipe to make mid-week, unless you have at least an hour to mess around in the kitchen. I think it could use more hot sauce, and we also added some fresh ground pepper. Next time it might be fun to throw in some peas, but B thinks they would get lost in the dish.

We served it with some biscuits, and I think a simple green salad would have gone with it nicely (but we were in a hurry and skipped the salad). It was of course a tasty soup, how can cream and ham and butter go wrong?