Chicken Chowder

Ingredients

4 ounces bacon bits
2 carrot, thinly sliced
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
1 onion,med,yellow coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound chicken breast, cut up
3 whole cloves
8 cups water
dill (to taste)
4 red potatoes, diced
4 tbls butter
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 glass sherry or rye
1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Instructions

Fry the bacon in a large pot and remove. Add the carrot and celery and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the onion, bay leaf and whole cloves of garlic. Stir and add the pepper. Add to the chowder the chicken, cloves, water and dill. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes. Meanwhile melt a lump of butter in a frypan, add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Add the flour, curry powder and cook for 3 minutes. Stir the mushrooms into the chowder and let cook for 2 minutes. Add the cream and sherry or rye. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Variation: Chicken and Corn Chowder 1 can corn (creamed or whole kernel) or fresh corn scraped from the cob Cook as for Chicken Chowder, above, but substitute the corn for the 4 diced potatoes.