Chicken chowder with corn, potato and bacon

A thick, nutritious and wholesome chowder like this is just made for a cold, rainy winter day.  Comfort food at it's finest.  But it tastes pretty darn good even if it is not raining.  A big bowl of this chowder, served with a warm loaf of french bread, is sure to please everyone.  And as an added bonus, it is fairly easy to pull together.  Try it, you'll like it.

Ingredients:
Make 6/8 servings

6 slices of bacon
2 tbsp. olive oil

4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 cubes
8 scallions, sliced (1/4 cup reserved for garnish)
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk or half-and-half
2 cans (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups shredded chicken (you can use a deli rotisserie chicken)
2 cans (14.5 oz) whole kernel corn
2 cans (14.5 oz) creamed corn
1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Instructions:

1.  Fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp.  Cool and then crumble into pieces.  Set aside.

2.  In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat and then add the potatoes and the scallions and cook for 5 minutes.  

3.  Sprinkle the flour over the potatoes and stir to distribute the flour.  Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the milk, broth, parsley, thyme and cayenne pepper.  Stir well and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.  Stir occasionally and cook for about 15 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender.

4.  Add in the chicken, corn and green chilies and stir to combine.  Cook until all ingredients are heated through.

Serve and garnish with the cheese, bacon and scallions.