August 30, 2016

..after 9 years, it is time to slow down + Basic Curried Corn Chowder recipe


Today's post: celebrating 9 years of food blogging; why it is time to slow down and be your best; a basic curried corn chowder recipe by Mark Bittman to cure those 5pm hunger pangs.


“If you’re having difficulty coming up with new ideas, then slow down. For me, slowing down has been a tremendous source of creativity. It has allowed me to open up — to know that there’s life under the earth and that I have to let it come through me in a new way. Creativity exists in the present moment. You can’t find it anywhere else.”  - Natalie Goldberg (Source)


I will tell you this. Times have dramatically changed since I started food blogging 9 years ago. Almost a decade earlier, there was no prominent social media presence; no madness to churn out SEO-driven posts like a machine and definitely no concept of 'fast blogging' . A handful of food bloggers published content for their love for food, wrote meaningful comments on each other's blogs and made real connections which bloomed over time.

Of course, like I said blogging is a whole different genre now and let's say to keep up with my truly amazing peers around me, I changed too. In fact, I became that machine who sometimes blogged recipes that were most searched for; who incorporated keywords into meaningful sentences to impress the Google gods. Don't get me wrong. I am not judging anybody's approach here. What feels not-so-good to me might be just perfect for somebody else. So, over time, a template of sorts emerged and all I had to was plug and publish.

..and then suddenly one day something snapped inside me, just like that..

Basic Curried Corn Chowder Mark Bittman

Blogger burn-out is real you guys and when it strikes, it strikes real hard! I lost the mojo to write; to cook; to photograph; to blog. I no longer wanted to compete with my nagging desire to keep up with everything. As if god-sent, I stumbled upon two posts recently and realized I am not alone in this struggle. First was Edlyn's heart warming post on How to be the best and then Kristen's well-timed article on Slow Blogging Movement. It became clear to me how important it is to get back to the roots, to be true to yourself and take things slow. Most importantly, it is not only hard but almost impossible to DO or BE everything!

..and with that in mind, I have decided to tread a new path from now onwards - to publish blogposts when inspiration hits, choosing quality over quantity and along with recipes I love, share more personal content like books I read from my never-ending TBR listzentangle art I occasionally do and other everyday mundane yet beautiful aspects of my life. :-) Sounds good?

Basic Curried Corn Chowder Mark Bittman

..and you know what else is real. 5 pm hunger pangs - when lunch is long gone and there is still time left for dinner. When you come home from work ravishing and try real hard not to munch whatever comes to hand. Well, that is what I do every single day. A plan had to be devised to keep a check on cravings and a make-ahead thick soup/chowder was the answer I came up with. For this week, I made an easy corn chowder recipe Mark Bittman shared on NYT cooking. If you have access to fresh corn, I would highly recommend to use it. Frozen corn should work too.

Ingredient list is short with corn, potato, milk; simply seasoned with salt, pepper and a tad bit of curry powder. I am so pleased that right now, four boxes of neatly portioned chowder in tupperware boxes are stowed in my fridge. All I have to do is heat it up in microwave and eat with a piece of toast. Yum!

For coming weeks, I might try this soup or this lentil stew

Basic Curried Corn Chowder Mark Bittman



Basic Curried Corn Chowder


PRINT RECIPE

Adapted from NYT Cooking

Category: Soups/Salads
Time: 30 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 ears of fresh corn
1 tbsp butter or neutral oil ike canola or grapeseed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp curry powder
1 cup low fat milk
few tbsp of spring onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped (optional)
½ cup chopped parsley (optional)

Preparation

Shuck corn, and use a paring knife to strip kernels into a bowl. Put cobs in a pot with 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer while you continue.

Add butter/oil into a saucepan, and turn heat to medium. When butter melts or oil is hot, add onion and potatoes, along with a sprinkling of salt, pepper and curry powder. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 5 minutes.

After corncobs have cooked at least 10 minutes, strain liquid into onion-potato mixture. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. When potatoes are tender, add corn kernels and milk, and heat through.

Taste, and adjust seasonings. Garnish with the parsley, and Serve.

Notes: No tomatoes were used in this version and I added some spring onion instead of parsley.

Did you like this recipe? Are you craving for more? Keep in touch on Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for updates on books I read, artwork, future blog posts and much more. You can also Subscribe to Cooking With Siri feed for automatic notifications and if you are looking for some inspiration, check out Cooking With Siri Recipe Index which has more than 500 recipes, neatly categorized. Happy Cooking!

until next recipe,





20 comments :

  1. So beautifully written and extremely well put. Its like you read my mind..but then I guess we are BFF's for a good reason huh? :) Love your chowder and here's to those 5pm (cursed, anti-diet) hunger pangs.

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    1. babe, Anit-diet is the right word. All my resolutions and healthy eating goes out of the window once it is 5 PM and am hungry. Hopefully, these soups will salvage my situation.

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  2. 9 years! I think mine also turned 9 recently. I have half a mind to stop.... half a mind to become one of those rabid bloggers.... but then I never did anything with half a mind anyway! congratulations on the milestone... much love... many hugs.... I am glad to have known you Siri.

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    1. Yay! Hearty Congratulations to you too babe. We are old-school and such dilemma is inescapable. Staying to true to our style of blogging and picking a side has definitely taken off a load of pressure off me and helped to think clearly.

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  3. I am following your blog from a long time and I am a blogger too and I understand what you said. It's not bad to slow down and blog only when you are inspired to. When feelings come from heart, the content becomes unique ☺👍

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    1. Thanks Mahathi for following my posts. It took me time to understand and once the realization dawns, there is no going back to 'fast blogging'. :-)

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  4. Congratulations and best of luck with all your resolutions! I want to blog, a lot, but somehow don't seem to have enough "content" :-P I complete 10 years in two weeks! Funny how we have Zentangle as a common interest. I'm obsessed with it.

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    1. Wow! a DECADE. Congratulations Sra. I hope you will continue to entertain us with you easy recipes and humourous writing. Thanks to you and your beautiful IG posts, I started my Zentangle practice again.

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  5. Oooh! Love the addition of the curry powder! I'll have to add this one to my growing collection of Bittman recipes :)

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    1. Curry powder does give the chowder a nice flavor boost Lydia. I hope you would it a try. Love Mark Bittman.

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  6. If I make this, I will eat it in one day. I have no tolerance around soup :) I can't wait to read what you have to write. Whatever you bring to the table will be unique and 100 per cent you and that's all that matters.

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    1. Hahaha! I had to literally stop myself from finishing the chowder the same day. Love love soup. Thanks Edlyn. You and Revati have been instrumental in bringing this realization in me. :-)

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  7. Congratulations on 9 years of lovely writing, cooking, photographing. i am thankful for your blog because through it I got to know a bit about you :)

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    1. Thanks Simona. It was lovely knowing you too through your blog. Cheers to many more happy times ahead.

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  8. Well said, I suffered and still do the blogger burn out, tried to keep up with the latest trends and demands but just cant keep up. Slow and steady is my motto now, lol , chowder looks delicious!

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    1. Nammi - I sincerely thought it was possible to keep up with the trends and have a normal life. I was so so wrong. Unlearning now what I learnt since past few years. :-) Thanks for dropping by.

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  9. I just made a corn fish chowder tonight for dinner. If I read your post first, I'd have added some curry powder. I like that extra kick of spice. Lovely post!

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  10. Congratulations on 9 years of blogging, I am in my 11th year now, and understand what you mean. I decided to blog if I am in the mood to blog, not if I am trendy or not. I survived any blogging hype and we are still there. Delicious chowder!

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  11. So happy to have you join us this week at IHCC! We are a super laid back cooking club and will be happy to have you join in when inspiration arises. I've also been blogging for 9 years and have felt similar along the way. Sometimes I run out of words, but mostly it's the picture taking process that weighs on me. Like you mentioned, there are so many wonderful connections I've made and I can't imagine a life without blogging so I've managed to hang in there.

    Thank you for sharing a wonderful post with a gorgeous and perfectly seasonal meal. I happen to have corn coming out of my ears right now and I know my family would really enjoy this dish!

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  12. It sounds like you have the right idea. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This corn chowder looks good.

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'Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it' ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Siri

 
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