corn soup . . .
by mulberryshoots
There’s nothing better to eat than corn on the cob when it’s in season, tender and sweet. We’ve been fortunate with corn from two different farm stands in the last couple of weeks but the latest one, not so much. The corn we had last night was disappointingly tough. I had a hunch they might not be as fragrantly tender and so today, I decided to use the last four ears from this batch to make a corn puree soup. That’s right, I said puree and not a corn chowder either by any means.
When my daughter and I had lunch at the Harvest Restaurant in Harvard Square a couple of weeks ago, I ordered the corn soup. When it arrived, it was a creamy looking soup with no corn kernels in sight. It was also unbelievably delicious! Now, I have an excuse to replicate that soup with these four ears of corn.
corn soup at Harvest Restaurant, Cambridge, MA. . .
I looked online at various recipes and settled on this one, adding a couple of touches of my own:
Puree of Corn Soup:
In a soup pot, (I love the one I’ve had a long time with a weighted bottom, enamelled and decorated with herbs and flowers made by Villeroy and Boch) pour a little extra virgin oil and half stick of unsalted butter to heat up for stir frying onions, carrot and corn.
Add:
1/2 chopped vidalia onion
1 carrot, peeled and quarter-cut into small pieces
1 large shallot, peeled and chopped
Shuck and rinse 4 ears of corn, removing silk from kernels
Using a sharp paring knife, hold the stem end of the corn in one hand and gently slice down sides of the ear of corn until kernels fall into a bowl. Break shorn cob in half and add to pot along with the kernels.
corn and cobs simmering in homemade vegetable broth . . .
Add 2 cups of homemade vegetable broth
Simmer for 30 minutes with the cobs in the broth for added flavor.
Let cool. Remove cobs and discard.
Puree soup in a Vitamix, blender or Cuisinart
Stir in a little heavy cream to taste; season with salt if needed.
pureed corn soup . . .
Tonight we’re going to have bowls of this corn soup, bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches on oatmeal toast and dark chocolate brownies with walnuts for dessert.
Yum!
Postscript: the corn soup below tasted very much like the soup at the Harvest Restaurant. I think their recipe included water in addition to broth (which was also in the recipe I used but which I omitted.) Mine tasted richer with just homemade vegetable broth and the addition of bacon and chive garnishes.
corn soup with bacon and chives . . .
mulberryshoots 
This looks heavenly! Fresh corn is always so good; I like to grill it and serve with a sour cream/parmesan cheese sauce. Your soup looks like the soup I had today at one of my favorite lunch places: Almond Squash. It was light and creamy, perfect for a hot summer day!
Nice of you to comment, Beth! Thanks! Even though this soup sounds like it takes some effort, it’s really worth it! Ever since I made the batch of homemade vegetable broth, I’ve been using it in place of chicken broth and it has transformed my cooking! –and our eating! So much tastier and “clean”!
Have you posted the recipe or procedure to make the vegetable broth? If not, would you mind sharing it as it sounds very tasty! Thank you!
Yes, it’s included in my post called, “Umami Taste”: https://mulberryshoots.com/2014/08/22/umami-taste/ and I also used the vegetable broth in a separate vegetable soup recipe: https://mulberryshoots.com/2014/08/27/soup-for-lunch/. Making the vegetable broth requires getting the ingredients, peeling and washing them, then browning some of the vegetables, adding water and letting it come to a boil but only allowing it to simmer for a couple of hours. I have stored it in the downstairs freezer and use it in place of chicken or beef broth. Today, I’m going to take out two frozen cubes of it, thaw and add it to thin the corn soup a little. I hope you will try it out and enjoy it! BTW, I had a mug of corn soup straight from the fridge for lunch and it was delicious too!
Yum!! Sounds (and looks) delicious! Can’t wait to try it…!
LOL! come on over!
Thank you for jogging my memory; I did read those posts but it just didn’t click. I’m going to try this as I love soup, but shy away from anything that has too much sodium and processed ingredients. Being able to freeze it is a big convenience.
As you can see in this post, I use a very large stockpot (the Villeroy & Boch with a squatty bottom.) I simmer the stock on low and don’t let it boil–it’s easy to let it do that, though! And since I use fresh, robust vegetables like leeks, parsnips, baby carrots, etc., there is a lot of FLAVOR that just isn’t easily describable but to me, is tastier than chicken or beef stock. This finished stock is not made of vegetable peelings saved in a freezer to make stock like some frugal cookery books suggest, that’s for sure! I freeze the cooled stock in 3 sizes: ice cube tray; pint size and quart size. Hope you will let me know how you like it! BTW, dashi is instant Japanese broth granules that are the basis of seaweed soup. If you don’t have it, you can also use some dried seaweed like Kombu or Wakame (look up on Amazon.com). I do think the seaweed is important and adds to the “umami” taste of the broth. I used no salt at all.