I’m a foodie; Clearly seeing as I write constantly am sharing my love for all things baked & cooked! Some of the things that really make me smile are fresh corn & leeks. I find that a huge amount of recipes are often pushed to the next level by adding either of these. The other bonus is this soup is honestly not bad for you- it’s actually pretty healthy & is good in COLD or Spring weather. I have made so many different corn chowders & potato chowders but, never had I actually thought to combine them, until this one.  This soup is full of potatoes & corn just creamy enough where you are immediately enamored with the texture. I think Bell Peppers serves as a lovely addition in lieu of my absolute detest of carrots in soup. It’s like the whole world finds you can only start a soup base with carrots, celery & onions. Well, you are wrong world- bell peppers is even better and the pop of red color rocks out the presentation. The leeks cook to this delicate stage & add a easy onion flavor.

I must apologize in advance because I didn’t take many pictures. I was multi tasking when I made this on a cake & chowder. The cake won on the photo side of things. The other thing you gain is you have a fairly good amount of your homemade Creole seasoning (Emmeril’s Recipe) to use in the future! I encourage you however to make this soon like perhaps this weekend because it will be perfection for your cold night! It serves 4 easy-maybe 5. The recipe could easily be doubled if you wanted to serve more. Take my advice and use fresh corn because it really does make all the difference & serve this with yummy crusty bread to really set it off.

Just like that…Day Made!

You’re going to need these lovelies for the recipe:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large leek, thinly sliced (soaked in water for at least 1 hour to clean!)
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded & diced
• 2 cups milk (Whole or 2 % works best)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups corn kernels (About 4 cobs, I used a combo of yellow & white)
• 2 pounds red potatoes, cubed (I like them to be different sized cubes)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Emeril’s Essence Creole Seasoning
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Chopped fresh green onions & cheese of your choice  for garnish

FOR EMERIL’S ESSENCE CREOLE SEASONING

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon black pepper

To make Emeril’s Essence, combine paprika, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme and pepper; store this in a air tight container because you’ll have  lots left.

• Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks and bell pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and flour, and cook whisking constantly until incorporated about 2-3 minutes. Stir in vegetable broth, corn kernels, potatoes, 1 1/2 teaspoons Emeril’s Essence,  and salt.  Don’t worry- this is not “hot”. It’s a soft heat that is perfect for the overall soup.
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender about 20-30 minutes. (below is before I added the corn & potatoes)

Serve immediately- but, know you can keep it in the fridge a few days and re-heat if you’d like! I wouldn’t freeze this though since the potatoes will be a mushy mess.

If you can’t make this yet PIN it for later- I can’t wait to hear how much you love it!

Jen

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