Chowder and speckled breadsticks...

When I was flipping through my supply of recipes to figure out what to make this week, I found a main dish that would work for tonight, but I didn't know what I wanted to serve with it. I thought about just having a few baked chips (or baked cheetos!) and then I came across these Asiago-Black Pepper Breadsticks that had similar flavors as one of our favorite drop biscuit recipes.

While the original recipe did call for pecorino Romano cheese, I went ahead and used Asiago as we are more often to have that on hand. Just a few ingredients form these long skinny breadsticks - the dry ingredients consist of two types of flour (all-purpose and white whole wheat) that is tossed with grated Asiago, baking powder, coarse black pepper and a pinch of salt. Moistened with just a few tablespoons of water and a drizzle of oil, the dough quickly came together and was ready to be cut and shaped. The original recipe gave a yield of 18 sticks, but there really is not all that much dough to work with, so I would suggest going down to around 14 or so. It would be best to use a light hand when you roll the dough into the skinny sticks - if the dough starts to shrink back at all, set it aside for a couple minutes to give it a chance to relax and try again. They get a little lift and puff from the baking powder while achieving a nice golden color as they baked. They are crisp, without being too dry, and have a nice sharp background from the cheese - they were perfect to dip into tonight's main dish!

A few weeks ago, I made a point of going out to the market and getting a few of the last fresh ears of corn from this past summer season to stash in the freezer and use throughout the upcoming colder months. However, if I don't stop at the pace I am going, my supply won't last more than a month or two! After tasting tonight's dinner with a generous 3 1/2 cups of kernels, I would not hesitate to use the rest I have to make this Corn and Fingerling Potato Chowder with Applewood-Smoked Bacon again.

Since the chowder is adorned with crunchy bits of crispy bacon, we softened the onions for this dish in some of the flavor-packed drippings left behind, rather than breaking out additional oil. While this recipe is kept light by using a couple cups of chicken broth for the liquids, you need to give this type of dish some body and richness, which is solved by the addition of milk and half-and-half. If you don't have access to the small fingerlings (they can also be fairly expensive), you could use a waxy red-skinned potatoes as a stand-in. The chowder is pretty chunky and a little on the thin side still by the time the potatoes have become tender, so to add some viscosity, we used an immersion blender to puree just a portion of the mixture. You can also get the same effect by processing a couple cups of the mixture in a blender and then adding it back into the pot. The sweetness of the corn played off well against the chunky potato pieces and smoky bacon - I loved the creamy texture the corn and potatoes added when a portion of them were forced into submission by the immersion blender.

Recipes
Asiago-Black Pepper Breadsticks
Corn and Fingerling Potato Chowder with Applewood-Smoked Bacon