Corn Chowder

I clearly remember watching the Paula Deen show the day she made this chowder. She started the soup with a stick of butter, and when the soup was finished, she cut a whole other stick into pieces and stirred them into the soup, barely melting them, so the first few bites taken would be 1/2 butter, 1/2 soup. WHOA. Over the top even for me. I left out the second stick of butter, and it was still delish.

Corn Chowder
(Paula calls this "Chef Jack's Corn Chowder)

1 stick butter
1 small onion, diced (or not)
1 small carrot, finely diced
1 small celery stalk, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3 C. white corn kernels, fresh or frozen
3 C. chicken stock
2 C. half-and-half
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
salt and fresh ground pepper

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic- saute for 2 minutes. Add flour and stir to make a roux. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, set aside to cool. Meanwhile, combine corn and chicken stock in another saucepan, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour stock and corn a little at a time into the pan with the roux, whisking briskly so it doesn't lump. Return the skillet to the heat and bring to a boil. Mixture should become very thick. In a small saucepan, gently heat the half-and-half; stir it into the corn mixture. Add nutmeg, and salt and pepper. (This is the part when Paula adds a whole other stick o butter, so go ahead if you have the gumption.)

I added one potato, diced small, and boiled it with the corn and chicken stock. It made the soup good and thick, and potassium-laden.
Also. Try fresh-grated nutmeg. I bought my first whole nutmeg (at Sprouts) for the butternut squash lasagna, and have been loving using it since. So fragrant and fancy- give it a try.