Potato & Corn Chowder With Green Chili, PotaCheese, and Bacon

Oh...  this is a really good, really hearty soup.  It's perfect for a cold winter's night and I want to share the recipe.

Potato & Corn Chowder with Green Chili, Cheese, & Bacon

6-8 large potatoes, cubed
8 cups of water

Place water & cubed potatoes in a large pot and cook until soft.

1 tbs butter
1/2 large onion, minced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
4-5 green chilies, chopped

While potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a pan and add the onion, garlic, and green chili.  Saute until the onions are translucent.

1 bag of frozen corn
1 pt of chicken stock
1 tbs dried thyme
1 tbs salt (or to taste)
1 tbs black pepper (or to taste)
1/2 cup sour cream

When the potatoes are soft, puree until smooth. When smooth, add the onion mixture, corn, stock, thyme, salt & pepper, and sour cream.  Heat through.

1 lb shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbs flour

Toss the cheddar cheese with the flour and add to the pot, stirring constantly to prevent sticking and to smooth out any cheese lumps.

6-8 slices of bacon, fried crisp & crumbled

When soup is smooth and seasoned to taste, serve with crumbled bacon on top.

This would probably be good with a bit of red bell pepper in it too, chopped fine.