Creamy Corn "Chowdah" with Chicken *melissa

We've entered into one of my favorite seasons of the year - FALL - I love this season for many reasons but one of the reasons is that I love making soups and my husband loves eating soups. My husband, a Bean Town native, would call this soup "corn chowdah." Being my first attempt at making "chowdah" I consulted a number of different recipes and came up with this conglomeration of ingredients that yielded  a result that actually metered on my husbands, "A+" scale...and for a native Boston, Red-Sox lovin' guy, that's saying a lot.


1 red bell pepper chopped
1 jalapeno chopped (seeds removed to desired hotness)
2 medium potatoes chopped with skins on
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups frozen corn 
6 cups low sodium chicken stock
salt & pepper to taste
4 slices bacon   
2 cups cooked chicken
1 can evaporated milk
sour cream (for garnish)
sharp cheddar (shredded for garnish) 


In large pot cook 4 strips of bacon until mostly crispy. Remove bacon and set aside, drain all but 2 Tbsp of the drippings. Saute chopped onions in bacon drippings until translucent -- about 5 min. Then add chopped red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper and continue to saute. 

Add chopped potatoes to pot and continue to saute. Then add frozen corn.

Add chicken stock and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Then puree 3/4 of the mixture either carefully ina  blender or with a wand blender (I have one of these....and I lurve it...it makes life in the kitchen SO much easier.) After soup is pureed add can of evaporated milk and shredded chicken, simmer until incorporated. 


Serve with dollop of sour cream, sprinkled cheddar cheese and some crumbled bacon, a side of sourdough bread for dipping and soaking up every last drop is a must...I promise, you will like this soup.