Chorizo + Corn Chowder

I mentioned that my friend Melia flew back to Chicago from Boston with me on Thursday. Better yet, my friend Andrea drove in from Michigan so we had an amazing girls weekend in Chicago! Our weekend was full of candy, diet Pepsi, Army Wives, giggling and Molly cuddling (or torturing.. whatever). Molly ended up with so much lipstick on her from kisses I don’t think she will ever be her natural color again.

Sunday was departure day. Andrea drove home in the morning and I dropped Melia off at the airport shortly after. It was so gloomy and rainy and a really chilly 70-degrees so I decided comfort food was needed. I started making this chowder last winter and it has become a staple. Sometimes I use real potatoes that I par-boil (because I love the skin), but this time I opted for frozen just because I wanted to spend more time eating and less time cooking.

Ingredients:

1 lb. mild pork sausage
1/2 lb. pork chorizo
10 oz. bag of frozen corn
24 oz. bag Ore Ida Steam and Mash frozen potatoes
14 oz. can chicken stock
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. hot sauce
Sharp cheddar cheese

I used a hot sauce that I bought in Savannah, GA on yet another trip with Melia!

Cook pork sausage and chorizo in a pan until well browned.

(make sure you BROWN it, that is a tip my Mom taught me and I always remember it!)

In a large soup pot, add frozen potatoes, frozen corn and the can of chicken stock.

Bring to boil and reduce to simmer until the potatoes are soft, but not falling apart.

Once sausage has browned and potatoes are soft, add sausage to the soup pot and stir in the milk.

Simmer for 5 minutes and add cheddar cheese and hot sauce, let sit on low for another 5 minutes to thicken.

After scooping yourself a huge bowl, add a pile of cheese and eat!

This chowder is amazing the next day with tortilla chips. It always gets thicker after you chill it in the fridge, so for leftovers I usually dump a ton of cheese on it before I microwave and eat it more like a dip.