Since Southern California “winter” is in full swing, we decided the main dish for our NYE dinner should be hearty and warming. We liked the idea of a chowder, and after creating several versions, we eventually landed on a sweet potato corn chowder. Corn chowder is always a crowd-pleaser but sweet potatoes give this version a nice seasonal twist. The Serrano and roasted Anaheim chiles provide a spicy kick and sour cream makes it thick and rich. This is an excellent one pot meal, and goes great with a variety of toppings. Our favorites so far are avocado, green onion, and tortilla chips, but we encourage you to experiment with your own combinations.
By the way, this recipe has proven to be more forgiving than we originally thought. After each taking turns making our own minor changes, we decided on the recipe below as our favorite version. In all the excitement of cooking for our party, though, we managed to completely leave out the chili powder and cumin! Luckily, the only person who realized it was Mai-yan, and our guests must not have noticed anything missing because every last spoonful was eaten.
There are many different types of camping and because of this, it’s difficult to create one recipe that suits each type. For car camping, you can have almost all the luxuries of home, whereas for backpacking trips, you can only take the few ingredients and tools you can carry in a backpack. Because of this, where it makes sense, we’ll come up with what we call the “dirty version” of a recipe, which is the pared down version that is more suitable for less luxurious camping. This recipe is a great candidate for a possible dirty version that can be taken deeper into the backcountry. Testing that will give us a great excuse for a backpacking trip in the near future, so keep your eye out for the results!
Sweet Potato Corn Chowder
Yield6-8 servings
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20-30 minutes
Activity GuideBike Touring, Car Camping
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter or oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 1 pound frozen or canned corn
- 1 Serrano chile, chopped, seeds removed
- 1 Anaheim chile, roasted and chopped, skins removed
- 3 cups vegetable stock, or equivalent bouillon
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 cup sour cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
- toppings, such as tortilla chips, avocado and green onions
Tools
- Camp Stove
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Measuring Cups/Spoons
- Stirring Spoon
- Stock Pot (4 quart)
- Tongs
Method
-
-
Chowder
- In a large pot, add butter or oil and sauté onion and garlic until translucent.
- Add the potatoes and sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the chiles, corn, and spices, and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the stock and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the sour cream.
- Serve with tortilla chips, avocado, and green onions.
-
[...] New England Sweet Potato Corn Chowder courtesy of Dirty Gourmet [...]
what a nice post, thanks.
Was really really good, the best dish I made in 2010… possibly 2009 hah.
Go easy on chilli pep though, mine turned out red.
this chowder is the bomb! I want some more.