I mentioned the other day that my dear friend, Peggy, and I went to lunch and she had a corn chowder that she loved and wanted to recreate at home. After much tweaking, tasting, and retweaking – I think I finally got it!

One issue I was having was the viscosity of the soup. Mine was not as thick as the restaurant’s version. I’m sure the chef used heavy cream and I didn’t want to go there… so I used my standard fat-free half-and-half. And although it lends a nice richness to the chowder, it won’t add that thick consistency. There are two options to get there; the first is to do as I did and make a paste of softened butter and flour to thicken the mixture, this is called a Beurre Manié. It is similar to a roux, but unlike a roux, it is not cooked until added to the dish. The second and healthier way would be to take a portion of the solids (about 1/4 to 1/3 of the solids in this case) from the soup just before serving and puree in either a food processor or a blender, then stir that back into the soup. Honestly, that is the technique I generally use, but I thought it would be useful to demonstrate and explain the Beurre Manié this time.

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