Mason-Dixon Recipes

Chicken Corn Chowder

Chicken and corn soup as made in Pennsylvania is a thick combination of pungent buts of simmered chicken with kernels from freshly picked corn and egg noodles rolled out while the saffron-flavored broth is brewing; it brings tourists from far and near to Lancaster County and other parts of Pennsylvania Dutch country for church suppers and outdoor food festivals.

         — American Food: The Gastronomic Story, Evan Jones, 1981.

The word "chowder" comes from what a French pot was called—Chaudiere, which is where the word "cauldron" came from. These pots were often used on fishing ships. Usually, some of the catch of the day were simmered and thickened, probably with hard soda style crackers, producing a heart-warming meal for the fishermen at the end of the day. Settlers from fishing villages in Europe that immigrated to America brought this tradition with them.

The corn comes from the native Americans that grew corn and made soup from it. This was shared with the early settlers—in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, these were the Amish. The native Americans taught the settler that corn could be dried and in the winter—before freezers and canned foods—and then reconstituted to be made into soups, which was a great sweetener for all the odd meats that they had to survive on. Corn was not only a wonderful thing to add to a soup for flavor but also to thicken it.

Chicken was added by the Pennsylvania Dutch, but there are many variations of the recipe, each unique with family versions passed down generation to generation. Some recipes call for the addition of potatoes, carrots, or other vegetables, while others use cream or milk to thicken the soup. Fish can be used instead of chicken to make a fish chowder.

There are also many different ways to season the soup, with some recipes calling for spices like thyme, rosemary, or sage. Typical Pennsylvania Dutch cooking adds egg noodles, knepps (dumplings), or rivels (flour, egg, and water). The recipe below most closely approximates my mother's, which is without noodles.

The recipe calls for saffron, the spice that gives chicken soups their yellow color. It adds a buttery, slightly smoky aroma and a subtle sweet and savory flavor. However, saffron is not always easy to find, can be expensive, and loses its flavor within six months if not stored in an airtight, cool and dark place. A common saffron substitutes is turmeric, also known as "Indian saffron" because of its yellow-orange color.

The marriage and refinement of different parts of these dishes—thickened chowder from fishermen, corn from the native Americans, and chicken from the Pennsylvania Dutch—is what makes Chicken corn chowder such and interesting dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb bone-in chicken breast, boiled
4 cups chicken stock or 4 cups reserved water
1 8-oz can of whole new potatoes, diced
4 oz frozen kernel corn
4 oz frozen English peas—optional
1 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced in half wheels
¹/₄ cup onion, diced
1 cup milk
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp salt
¹/₄ tsp saffron (substitute turmeric)
¹/₄ tsp parsley
¹/₄ tsp thyme

DIRECTIONS

Cut chicken into large pieces and then boil for 45 minutes until cooked through. Remove and reserve water. Let cool and then either shred or cut into bit-size pieces. Place in crock-pot and then add potatoes and 4 cups of chicken stock or 4 cups of reserved water if using water instead of chicken broth (after straining to remove fat). You can also use 2 and 2 cups of both..

In a medium saucepan and under medium heat, sauté onions and celery in butter. When vegetables are translucent or soft, place in crock-pot and then add to crock-pot. Season with salt and spices, cover and cook on HIGH for 3¹/₂ hours.

Turn crock-pot to LOW. Stir in milk and flour to thicken it to desired texture. Add more milk to make it thinner, or less to make it thicker. Cover again and cook on LOW for an addition 30 minutes.

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