First Rainy Day of Fall Soup, 2012

A few years ago, I started my own little tradition of making a pot of soup for dinner on the first rainy day of fall. Jeannene & I picked up a few new Gooseberry Patch cookbooks at the Country Living Fair recently. She expressed intense interest in a sweet potato corn chowder in one of them, so I carried a list of ingredients around with me for the few days it took to rain this fall. The soup was splendid, especially out of the beautiful new pottery soup mugs we also picked up at the Fair. We had it just with some French bread, but I bet some nice, crisp apple slices with caramel dip would be a delicious finish to the meal. Here's my adaptation:

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

1 lb. kielbasa, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
7 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
6 cups chicken broth
16 oz. frozen corn, thawed
1 large sweet potato or yam, peeled and diced into small pieces
3/4 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast, diced
1 c. whipping cream
Salt & pepper to taste

Brown sausage in soup pot about 5 minutes. Add onion & garlic. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add flour, spices, and cook, stirring, another couple minutes. You may need to add a dash or two of olive oil. Add chicken broth & bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, & simmer about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through & sweet potato is tender. Add cream & adjust seasonings. Heat through. Serves 8-10.