Chicken And Mushroom Chowder - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
boiling water
2 slices bacon
1 skinless chicken breast half, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 russet potatoes, peeled if you wish and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ears sweet corn, kernels sliced off
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (28 ounce) can peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon herbes de provence
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Preparation

Cover mushrooms with boiling water and set aside for 20 minutes.
Cook bacon in a dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes; crumble into pieces and set aside.
Add onions to dutch oven, cook until softened, about 3 minutes; add garlic, cook 1 minute; add chicken and cook, stirring often, until it turns white, about 4 minutes; add potatoes, corn, broth and tomatoes, cook 4 more minutes.
Slice spinach leaves into thin strips; add spinach, bay leaf, thyme, herbs de Provence, salt, pepper flakes, allspice and black pepper to chowder; drain mushrooms and add to the pot.
Increase heat to medium-high; cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes; adjust seasoning, stir in parsley and cilantro into chowder.
Garnish with bacon.