Tired of Turkey Yet?

Though the Thanksgiving dinner is, by far, my favorite dinner of the year, I have to admit I am tired of turkey leftovers! We've had sandwiches (more than one!), a turkey shepherd's pie and I still have turkey left over.  I think it is multiplying in my fridge while I'm away at work!

Our weather has turned, we have frost warnings for tonight (this is the definition of cold in central California!).  When it gets cold I turn to soup as my main dinner choice. We have a local restaurant in town, Harvest Moon, that serves a great corn chowder.  When I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it as I love the restaurant's corn chowder and I love shrimp.  Happily, this recipe didn't disappoint, we really enjoyed it. I found the recipe in a magazine called Autumn in the South. As it was only the two of us for dinner I halved the recipe.  We still had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Shrimp & Corn Chowder

1/4 cup butter
2 large red bell peppers, chopped
2 bunches, green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 quarts chicken broth
6 cups diced red potatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups half-and-half
5 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
3 pounds medium fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
Garnish: chopped red bell pepper

In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat.  Add bell pepper, green onion, and garlic; cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add flour; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Gradually whisk in chicken broth; bring to a boil.  Add potatoes, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Add salt, black pepper, and red pepper, stirring to mix well.  Add cream, half-and-half, and corn.  Bring to a simmer; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes, or until slightly thickened.  Add shrimp; cook for 5 minutes, or just until shrimp are firm and pink.  Garnish with chopped red bell pepper, if desired.

Our house is mostly decorated for Christmas and I'm in full-hostess mode as I'm hosting a family tea, for 20, on Saturday.  The theme of the tea this year is gingerbread so I decorated the dining area tree accordingly.  I have various gingerbread items, in various stages of production, throughout my kitchen and am making another batch of dough tonight. As I'm knee-deep in projects this chowder is but a distant memory for my hubby (we had it a week ago).  Tonight he gets bacon & eggs!