Leftover veggies? How about some nice hot "cohn chowda"!

Ingredients

2-3 Bacon slices chopped
Diced vegetables esp onions, celery, peppers, and carrots
Corn cut off the cob
Cubed cooked potatoes, zucchini or whatever if you have it
2 boullion cubes or stock
Tbsp butter
Tbsp flour
1/2 Quart of milk or half and half
Touch of parsley

This summer, the corn was plentiful, inexpensive and tasty. So we bought it by the bagload and brought it onboard for evening delights. We tend to cook corn and potatoes in saltwater if we're in a clean anchorage, and this night we were, so we did. Ummmm, so tasty, with a bit of butter. No salt needed. But, after gorging ourselves, we still had plenty left. What to do? Put it away for tomorrow, of course.

The next day, I was rummaging about in the fridge trying to find the lunchmeat, when it hit me that we had lots of borderline stuff that needed eating. Stuff like corn, half an onion, some celery, some carrots, a zucchini, a couple of slices of bacon, and a quart of milk on its last sniff test. Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was making that corn chowder. Once the idea gets in my head, there's nothing I can do, so I set about chopping the vegetables other than the corn and sauteing them in the bacon drippings.

Once they were transparent, I added 2 cups water and two bullion cubes (beef), the bacon, and the corn kernels. I let it cook for about 30 minutes. Then I made a nice roux, by sauteing the flour in the butter until just turning golden. At that point, I added liquid from the chowder and dissolved the roux until it poured freely. I then added it to the chowder and continued cooking about 10 minutes while it thickened. Finally, I added half a quart of milk and heated it through but did not let it boil. I topped it with a touch of grated cheese, a fluff of parsley, and a smidgin of white wine.

Served with nice chunks of bread, we had a meal fit for sailors! Ummmm.

And just so you know, I always keep some basic ingredients available onboard for those kinds of moments. Olive oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, flour, powderd milk, and boullion cubes, and I can cook or dress up almost anything!