"Our" Visitor...

I did a lot of cooking this week for various reasons. First, "we" had company. I put "we" in quotes, because I really had almost no interaction with the visitor. He hung out in the office and played Microsoft Flight Simulator for 2 solid days. Due to this, though, I was a good little cooker. On Monday, I made corn chowder, garlic bread, and peach cobbler.

Cheddar-Corn Chowder
1 pound uncooked bacon, diced
1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 medium red potatoes, diced into 3/4 inch cubes
6 cups chicken stock or broth
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 (16 oz.) cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 (16 oz.) creamed corn
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups heavy cream
4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
2 bunches scallions, sliced

Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until brown and crispy. Remove bacon from skillet, and allow to drain on paper towels.

Place 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease in a stockpot. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the drippings and saute for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, stock, cayenne pepper, and coriander. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 35 minutes. Add the corn, cheese, and cream. Simmer additional 7 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Stir in the scallions and crispy bacon pieces.

Enjoy!


I've made this several times, and have loved it every time. I used 2% milk instead of cream this time because I am trying to cut back (see earlier post). It was a bit thinner, but just as tasty. I served it with garlic bread, and we had peach cobbler for dessert. (The peach cobbler recipe is posted around July 19... I made it for my mom's birthday.)

On Tuesday, I made baked Tilapia, scallops, green beans, and rice pilaf.

Baked Tilapia
4 tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place fillets in dish.

Mix lemon juice, butter, garlic and parsley. Pour mixture over fish.

Bake fish in preheated oven until fish is white, and flakes with a fork, about 30 minutes.


Baked Scallops
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 pound large sea scallops

Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix butter, mustard, lemon juice, garlic and parsley together.

Place scallops in a baking dish. Pour butter mixture over scallops. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until scallops are opaque and cooked throughout.


I served this meal with fresh green beans, prepared in the Ziploc steamer bag, and a box of rice pilaf, prepared per the package directions. It was delicious.