Intro
This is where summer and fall collide. Where the cool evenings justify a warm bowl of soup. A meeting of sweet, crisp corn and wilted chanterelles that smell of woods and earth. Bacon and thyme reiterate that earthiness before dill showers over the light creamy broth, bringing with it a fleeting freshness. Really, it’s more fall than summer in this bowl but it is nice to shuck one more cob, tangle with its silky whiskers and pop a few sweet and starchy kernels into my mouth before they soften in the soup.
I’m not quite ready for the heft of a typical chowder made thick with roux so mine is more broth-focused than creamy but you can change that if you’d like. Also, I’ve brought my love of beer to the bowl by deglazing with a lightly colored wheat. The second round of this soup I made the mistake of deglazing with a pungent and hoppy IPA which made the soup bitter. So go with something light or use white wine instead.
Chanterelle Chowder with Bacon and Corn
Serves 4
4 strips bacon, thinly sliced
1 onion, diced
1/2 bulb fennel, diced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 – 2 1/2 cups (6 ounces) roughly chopped chanterelles
1/2 cup (4 ounces) wheat beer or white wine
2 1/2 cups (1 pound 4 ounces) chicken or vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) cubed (1” inch) yellow potatoes (2 small/medium)
1 cup corn kernels (6 ounces) (fresh or frozen)
3/4 cup (6 ounces) cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Cook the bacon in a large dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat until the fat renders and it just starts to crisp, 5-7 minutes.
Add the onion, fennel and garlic with a pinch of salt then saute for an additional 7 minutes until the onions are translucent.
Turn the heat to medium-high then add the thyme and chanterelles. Saute until caramelized in parts, 3-5 minutes. Deglaze with the beer (or wine), scraping up the browned bits off the bottom.
Add the stock and potatoes, bring to a simmer then cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the corn and cream and simmer just until the corn is cooked through.
Stir in dill, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper. Finish with lemon juice then taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Note: For a thicker chowder stir in 2 1/2 teaspoons flour before you add the beer or wine. Cook the flour for 1 minute so the finished soup doesn’t have a raw flour taste. Slowly whisk in the beer or wine then proceed as written.
Looks so comforting! I love a brothy chowder rather than the thicker version 🙂
I am scratching the bacon and doing this up! Vegetarian chanterelle chowder, oh yeah!
That’s exactly what I’m gonna do! Bacon-less Chanterelle!
This sounds like the perfect soup for a cold and blustery night. 🙂 I must seek out some chanterelles very soon!
This looks so cozy and delightful.
Two moments ago, I was absolutely stuffed.
Now, famished.
Go figure.
This looks so good!!
A chanterelle chowder – I’ve never! I need to!!
I can just imagine how good that would taste – I’m hungry now! I’ll be trying this without the bacon as I’m vegetarian but I’m sure it will still taste amazing!
I want to prepare this without the bacon as well (vegetarian!)- did you add anything else or did the recipe still hold without the meat? Thanks!
I love that even though this chowder is more broth-based, it still looks nice and creamy!
It look wonderfull! I can almost smell it 😉
Cheers
This looks fantastic! Also like that it is more broth based than roux based. Can’t wait to try.
This looks incredible…so warm and cozy , a must try!
I had chanterelles last night with pasta..wish I had made this gorgeous chowder instead. Have to try this one for a cool day. My boyfriend is gonna have to learn to like mushrooms!
This looks delicious! If you’re looking for a food-related laugh while you let it simmer, check out http://www.cafehunk.com!
What a gorgeous meal! I never thought to put wild mushrooms in my corn chowder before, but chanterelles… oh they are like magic in everything. Pretty hard to find in my area unless you go out for a woodland trek up in Appalachia. And I love the final shot of the soup up close.
Oh my how can anyone pass this up??!! Looks amazing and I can’t wait to make it:)
Thanks, Lisa.
Ashley, this s perfection in a bowl. I cannot wait for our weather to chill down, to start making chowders, and this will be at the top of the list. Love anything with Chanterelles!
My God. You’re killing me. Farmer’s market tomorrow and the mushroom guy will have chanterelles just for this. Weee!
I shouldn’t have read this! Today is a day I’ve dedicated to baking (and NO cooking), but now I want to make this soup! The bread I’m making would go so well with it … sigh
Jean – hahaha. That is quite the dilemma. Bread really does need a good bowl of soup to dip in to. 🙂
I saw this recipe in my RSS feed a day or so ago and had to make it. Absolutely amazing.
Liz – I absolutely love hearing that. Thanks for reporting back!
Your new site is gorgeous Ashley! I can’t wait to try this Chanterelle Chowder, perfect for a cozy fall evening. 🙂
Thanks! I think you’re the first to visit the new site.
First off, this recipe looks incredible! But what I really wanted to mention was how gorgeous the redesign of the site is. Very easy to navigate, and just beautiful!!!
Beautiful new site Ashley! The navigation is simple and intuitive. The clean, modern lines and rustic photography balance perfectly. I love it. And I love the recipe, as always.
Love the new layout dear Ashley, but most of all, I love your writing, which keeps drawing me back over and over again!
love from buenos aires
felicia
Absolutely fantastic! Made it tonight for dinner. My family is thrilled. Thanks for sharing this fabulous recipe
Um, yes please! This sounds like perfection! For more great recipes, visit my blog http://www.BetterOffHealthy.com.
Love the new layout, bought the chanterelles today at New Seasons, only $7.99/lb. PS Didn’t you have a Caramel Nut Tart recipe? No can find:) Congrats on the huge success, very well deserved!
Thank you! Here’s the caramel tart recipe http://notwithoutsalt.com/caramel-walnut-tart/
I love mushrooms and this sounds absolutely delicious. What do you think about adding more/and other mushrooms to the chowder? Would it take away too much from the other flavors?
I think that’d be totally fine.
The weather is just getting cool here and I couldn’t wait to make this recipe! I used maple smoked and peppered bacon and cut out the lemon and dill at the end…. but it was amazing and will be perfect on cool summer nights! Great recipe and so beautiful!!!!!!
First time on this website and I must say it’s so pretty and fresh, love it! Two thumbs up
WOW….3 of my favorite words in 1 recipe title, well done!
Hate chowder where its just a thick vat of cream with chunks of bland seafood and potato. This looks so flavorful, love the addition of chanterelles.
I’m a bit behind on my blog post reading but I just had to comment on both the soup and your new design. Both are gorgeous. The soup is my kind of soup and I can’t wait to try it.
I made this last night and it was perfect – even better today for lunch. Great recipe, thank you!
HOLY SMOKERS!
i know i already commented on the chowder, but seriously, the new digs?
nice.
xo,
molly
This looks absolutely amazing! And your photography is gorgeous. Do you think this can be done in a slow cooker?
http://thewonderbag.blogspot.com
mmm that looks delicious, esp now when the weather is getting colder. I will def give it a go.
http://theflamingpotato.blogspot.co.uk/
Just made this and it was fantastic! A great way to celebrate summer’s end and welcome the fall.
Love that! Thanks for coming back to tell me.
I’m totally enamored with this soup and have been carrying the idea of it around with me all week – can’t wait to make something inspired by this soooooon. Also, the new site is STELLAR. xo
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.
wonderful recipe. In the past, I’ve made chanterelle tarts, risottos, and this week, a bread pudding. your straddle-the-seasons chowder looks so delicious. I’ll have to try it!
Great recipe!
Made this today for my wife. Delicious. I usually don’t like dill but it was very nice in this. My next task is to try with other mushrooms than chanterelle. Unfortunately I can only get them from whole foods at $30/lb! Seeing as I plan to make this for 15 people at Thanksgiving, that will be an expensive pot of chowder
This looks wonderful. I think I might add clams. What do you think?
I think that’s a great idea!
I doubled this recipe last night. It was so delicious! Made enough for myself and 3 friends and had plenty left over for the office today. It was such a hit! It looks heavy but has a surprisingly light and tangy taste. The lemon juice really comes through. Definitely making this again. Thanks!
Doubled this recipe last night as well with freshly foraged chanterelles. Heavenly! Thank you, thank you. This one is going in the fall favorites!
Just made this for the third time in 3 weeks, what a great recipe! The whole family loves it!
Made this for 3 friends after a day of elk hunting in October. Didn’t get an elk but did find the mother load of chantrelles. I grilled up some salmon to
accompany the spectacular chowder. One of the guys started putting chunks of his fish in the chowder, which I had to try myself.
That was also amazing. Luckily, I’d gathered enough chantrelles in 3 days to make some more chowder batches. I’ll be dazzling my co-workers this weekend with a pot of this at the Christmas party.
What a lovely recipe! Seasonal comfort food at its finest; I love the depth of flavour of the herbs.
Would it be possible to substitute the cream for plain Greek yogurt?
I think that would be fine. Let me know how it goes.
Ashley… I made this last night upon recommendation of a mutual friend, (SaraAnn Evans), and oh my stars!! SO good! I didn’t have fennel bulb on hand, so used some thinly sliced celery,… other than that followed your instructions exactly.
Really good! (btw, Costco has Chanterelles at a great price so it didn’t feel too crazy to use a full lb. and increase the ratios to have a nice big pot) The whole family felt pampered. Food is a big love language around here. ^__^
This is an amazing recipe. We foraged for Chanterelles today, and came home with a good haul. They were a little past their prime having been heavily rained on recently and were a tad waterlogged, but even so, the recipe was delicious. Our mushrooms were super meaty and took on the flavors of the chowder and it was just downright amazing. I will be saving this recipe for future use as we put about 5lbs of Chanterelles into our freezer over the past few weeks. Thank you. 🙂
I only leave comments when I’ve made the recipe and I have to say this one was amazing. I used vigonier to deglaze, and frozen fire roasted corn kernels. Even more delicious than it sounded! Thank you!
I discovered this recipe when I moved to WA State and my husband and father started hunting for chanterelles. This is by far the most amazing recipe for chanterelles I’ve ever tried. I have used it for several years in a row now, and we make batch after batch until the mushrooms run out. It is delicious each time. Try this recipe, you won’t be sorry!!