Vermont Local Foods - Potato, Leek, and Corn Chowder

I have taken a little break from this blog to enjoy the great outdoors in Vermont and the Adirondacks. As Autumn has come in full fledge I figured it is the perfect time to start back and focus on my favorite autumn/winter veggies.  My workplace offers a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) all year round and it includes 24 different farmers so the the variety of foods is incredible! Through the rest of the Fall and Winter I will focus on those veggies that I receive as part of my CSA.

To get a taste of the CSA experience my supervisor was generous enough to let me have hers while on vacation in September.

In my basket of goodies I had fresh corn, potatoes, beautiful leeks, peppers, radishes, and carrots.
As an aside - Brent ate the radishes raw as a snack and said they were the strongest he had ever tasted! Talk about veggies with tons of flavor!

My first thought whenever I encounter leeks are Potato and Leek soup. I also wanted to add the corn and make more of a chowder:

So I chopped my leek, rinsed, and sauteed them in some olive oil:

I added the chopped potatoes, lots of fresh ground pepper, a little salt and some water.

Meanwhile Brent cut the corn off the cob and we added that as well.

I added a cup of milk and cooked until the potatoes were cooked through. I also add back the tops of the leeks to add some more flavor, I will take these out before putting them in the blender.

Add half of the soup mixture to a the blender to thicken, add back to the soup, simmer and serve.

Top with some Vermont cheddar!