Creamy Chicken & Bacon Chowder

Its here! It's soup season! Fall is just a week away and fall/winter is soup and stew season. Tonight I made a Pre soup for fall season. 

I've not made corn chowder before- in fact, I've not made any chowder before. And honestly, I'm not sure if what I did tonight counts as a chowder. 

I didn't follow any of these instructions BTW. I just winged it since I feel pretty confidence in how to make soup. 

Here's what I did:

1. I fried up the bacon

2. Sautéed the chicken that I diced up in with the bacon when it was almost done.

3. Dropped in the green onions when the chicken was almost done

4. Dropped in the diced potatoes

Sauteed all that stuff around for a couple of minutes

5. Seasoned it with their fry sauce and garlic powder

6. Added the water and stock concentrate, and an extra half cup water

Let it simmer for 10 minutes or so

Added the cream cheese, let it simmer for another 5.

It was delicious! 

And that's the best part of Hello Fresh. I can follow their recipes and mostly I do, but sometimes I just go for it. 

Oh and the lime threw me off a bit. I didn't use it because I just couldn't imagine lime in with this corn chowder thing. 

Creamy Chicken & Bacon Chowder
Recipe from Hello Fresh
Serves 2

• 1 tablespoon Fry Seasoning
• 12 ounce Chicken Cutlets
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 2 Scallions
• 1 unit Chicken Stock Concentrate (this is about 1 T chicken bouillon) 
• 4 ounce Bacon
• 1 cup corn
• 4 tablespoon Cream Cheese
• 12 ounce Potatoes
• 1 Lime

Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Dice potatoes into ¼-inch pieces.

Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens.

Drain and rinse corn.

Zest and quarter lime.

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season all over with half the Fry Seasoning (you'll use the rest later), salt and pepper.

Place chicken on one side of a lightly oiled baking sheet. Arrange bacon in a single layer on empty side of sheet. Roast on top rack until chicken is browned and cooked through and bacon is crispy, 15-20 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a cutting board and bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate. TIP: For perfect timing, start Step 3 when chicken and bacon have about 10 minutes remaining.

While chicken and bacon roast, place potatoes in a medium microwave-safe bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave until fork-tender, 3-5 minutes.

Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add scallion whites and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1 minute.

Add another drizzle of oil, corn, garlic powder, remaining Fry Seasoning, ½ tsp sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until corn is slightly charred, 3-4 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium low. Whisk in cream cheese, stock concentrate, and 1 cup. Cook, stirring constantly, until cream cheese is combined and mixture has thickened, 2-3 minutes.

Once bacon is cool enough to handle, roughly chop.

Stir lime zest, potatoes, and bacon into pot. Taste and season with salt and pepper. TIP: If chowder seems too thick, add water 1 TBSP at a time until it reaches desired consistency.

Thinly slice chicken crosswise.

Divide chowder between shallow bowls. Top with chicken, scallion greens, and a squeeze of lime juice. Serve.