Corn Chowder & French Bread

Every Christmas Eve my mom would make this delicious corn chowder. We'd go to the Christmas Eve service at church and then drive around and look at all the lights. When we got home, we'd change into our jammies and then settle in for a delicious bowl of soup and some Christmas cookies by the fire.

I loved the soup exactly how it was and could not get enough of it. But, I guess a few years ago for some reason my mom changed her recipe slightly. Don't know why, but I discovered this change when I went to make it a few days ago and was sorely disappointed. I quickly called my sister and got the original recipe from her and thus my soup came out as a combination of the two recipes. But, after tasting it, I think I'm going to make it this way from now on. It was just as creamy and delicious as I remember and had just a little extra kick to it thanks to the few additions from the new recipe. Plus, this new version can be made in the crockpot instead of having to keep a constant eye on it at the stove.

MOM'S CHRISTMAS EVE CORN CHOWDER

½ lb. bacon, cut up
1 medium onion, chopped
4-5 medium potatoes, diced and peeled
1 c. water
15 ¼ oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
15 oz. can cream style corn
1 T. sugar
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. kosher salt
¼ t. pepper
½ block of Velveeta (large size block)
4 c. milk (I used skim and it still turned out really creamy)

Fry bacon until crisp; remove from pan. Add potatoes and onions to bacon drippings and sauté for 5 minutes. Drain. Combine all ingredients, but milk and cheese in crockpot; mix well. Cook on low about 5-6 hours or until potatoes are tender. Add milk and cheese; cook one more hour or until cheese is melted and soup is warmed through.

In my continuing quest into making yeast breads, I decided to make some French bread to go with the soup. I used the recipe found in my Southern Living cookbook and was very happy with the results. For little effort and few ingredients, I ended up with three beautiful loaves (that freeze well). The bread was so good and much more cost efficient than buying it (especially considering that my grocery store had 5lb bags of flour on sale for 99 cents a bag last week...I stocked up).

NO-KNEAD FRENCH BREAD

½ cup warm water (100° to 110°)
2½ tsp sugar
2 (¼-ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
1 cup boiling water
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup cold water
6½ to 7 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg, beaten
2 Tbsp milk

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a 1-cup liquid measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes.

2. Combine boiling water, butter, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir until butter melts. Add cold water; cool mixture to warm (100° to 110°). Stir yeast mixture into liquid mixture. Add 2½ cups flour. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.

3. Let dough stand in bowl 10 minutes. Stir gently for a few seconds; cover. Repeat gentle stirring every 10 minutes for the next 40 minutes.

4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface; divide into 3 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 13- x 8-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Roll up, jelly-roll fashion, starting with long side; pinch ends to seal.

5. Place each loaf, seam side down, on a separate greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, about 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.

6. Make diagonal slits about ¼ inch deep down the length of loaves, using a sharp knife. Combine egg and milk in a small bowl, beating until blended. Brush gently over loaves after rising.

7. Bake at 400° for 20 to 25 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. (Bread freezes well.)

Yield: 3 loaves, 12 servings each

P.S. If you look closely in the picture, you can see where I didn't get my egg wash all the way over the bread. The less golden parts got missed.