Hungry for Fall

My favorite season is by far summer... I love being able to wear shorts and a t-shirt every day, being in the heat, drinking iced tea [unsweetened, of course], and wearing flip flops. I am always very hesitant to welcome fall in because that means winter is coming, and that is just not okay with me... not a fan of the cold. People always say, "Well since you grew up in Chicago, you should be used to it." My reply: "Yes, I'm used to it, but that doesn't mean I like it." I do enjoy fall though: sweatshirt and jeans weather, the beautiful leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, and fun fall food. Lately I've been wanting the "fall food". So I decided to choose the coolest day of the week and a day it would rain to make this yummy Chicken Bacon Chowder recipe. That day was today. It was supposed to rain all day and get to a high of 80. Well, it didn't rain at all, and it got to 82, but I still made it, and oh, was it good! I got the original recipe from here and made a few changes while making it and then decided to change a few more things for next time after I tasted it. Hope you enjoy it! We sure did!

Chicken Bacon Chowder

in the Crock Pot

Recipe:

5-6 cloves of garlic- minced

1 shallot- finely chopped

2 ribs of celery- diced

3/4 c. mushrooms- diced

1 medium onion- chopped

4 T. butter (divided)

2 c. chicken stock (divided)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

8 oz. cream cheese

1 c. heavy cream

1 lb. bacon- cooked crisp and crumbled

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. thyme

Directions:

1. To crock pot, add garlic, shallot, celery, mushrooms, onion, 2 T. butter, 1 c. chicken stock, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook vegetables on low for approximately 1 hour.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, while the vegetables are cooking,  pan-sear the chicken breasts in the remaining 2 T. butter until they are browned on both sides [chicken will not be fully cooked through yet].

3. Remove the chicken from pan and let cool. De-glaze the pan with the remaining 1 c. of chicken stock. Using a rubber spatula, scrape up any of the chicken bits and add to the crock pot 

4. Add the cream cheese, heavy cream, garlic powder, and thyme to the crock pot. Stir until it's combined well.

5. Once chicken has cooled, cut it into cubes and add to the crock pot with the bacon. Stir until all the ingredients are combined. Cover and let cook for 6 hours. 

Makes 12 servings

I served this with tortilla chips. My sister didn't even use a spoon; she used the chips to dip into the chowder. I used both :)

If you would like to pin this, here is the link