February 11: Corn Chowder with Basil Oil

Today I started this corn chowder at 10:30 am. It is in the Veggie Variety section of the cookbook. Here are the ingredients:

 

I sliced and washed the leeks, the I fried them in 3 tbsp of butter:

 

I put them in the crockpot, added a quart of vegetable stock, 5 cups of frozen corn, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, and some salt and pepper:

 

After that cooked on low for 8 hours, I added 1/2 cup of heavy cream and heated it through:

 

Then I made the basil oil. I pureed a cup of basil with 1/4 cup of olive oil (I quartered the recipe). Then I simmered that in a pan for 30 seconds.

 

I strained the oil without stirring or pressing the paste through the sieve:

 

Then I served the chowder with the basil oil on top:

This soup turned out very flavorful. The whole family liked it. DH doesn't really like dinners without meat, so he ate a peanut butter cracker afterward. He told me he liked the soup, and he liked that the leeks were very soft. We were all very cold today, so the hot soup was perfect for warming us up.