Johnny Mac’s soon-to-be-famous Corn, BBQ’d Ham & Bacon Chowder

The thing about cooking is that you have to be willing to experiment—use a recipe as a guide, not the gospel. When you add a dash of this or a dash of that and turn your head away from the recipe for a minute,  maybe, just maybe, you’ll create something as fabulous as Johnny Mac’s soon to be famous Corn, BBQ’d ham & Bacon Chowder.

In a previous post, Why you should buy Lobster from a Shirtless Fisherman and Boil them in a Beer Keg, you were introduced to my cousin John,  the mastermind of lobster cooking. In that post, I quipped about his likeness to the infamous Heisenberg of “Breaking Bad” fame. I hoped that, like Heisenberg, John was flush with cash. Sadly this was not the case.

But the true similarity lies, not in their shiny heads or their sinister goatees, but in their labs. Like Heisenberg, who converted his motorhome into a profitable meth lab, Johnny Mac has converted his kitchen into a veritable lab of culinary delights, experimenting with ingredients and flavour profiles.

Heisenberg

Johnny Mac

In the midst of recent Cape Breton a seafood extravaganza, I experienced  one of his culinary break-throughs. In between mussels (In a very tasty white wine broth) and grilled dijon salmon (my husband did not catch) there appeared a bowl of chowder. Fully expecting to be tantalised with the richness of lobster, scallops and haddock, my taste buds were greeted with the smokey flavour of  BBQ’d ham, bacon and the sweetness of corn. The crowd went wild!

Of course, the reconstruction of this prized and virginal recipe was not easy given Johnny Macs’ license for experimentation, so (as with all recipes) it should be used only as a guide. Don’t stress about numbers or measurements. Use any kind of BBQ sauce you like. Add as much ham as you like, go crazy with bacon. Add extra carrots! The choice is yours. Go with your gut. Create your own personal experiment in your at-home lab. Your recipe can be famous too!(Heisenberg and I talked about adding liquid smoke or charring fresh corn on the BBQ rather than using the frozen variety)

The Approximate Recipe

for

Johnny Mac’s soon to be famous Corn, BBQ’d ham & Bacon Chowder.

Chop:

Some Onions (1 or 2)

Some Carrots (3 or 4)

Some celery (2 or 3 stalks)

Sear up a ham steak brushed with a bit of BBQ sauce on the grill.

Saute in about 1 Tablespoon Butter &  about 1 Tablespoon bacon fat (When Johnny Mac fries bacon he always saves the fat) for 5 minutes and then cover with water until the carrots  just start to soften.

Then add Diced ham as well as some (already cooked and crumbled bacon) add to pot with some fresh ground black pepper

Next add some diced potatoes (maybe 3) and a Johnny Mac handful of frozen corn and cook, being careful not over cook your spuds.

In another pan melt a good chunk of butter and a litre of cream,18%. Heat slowly being careful not to boil

Then add hot cream to vegetable/ham mixture and simmer.

Serve with fresh chopped parsley and ENJOY!