Cooking with Candi

Summer’s bounty in a pot. Out in Colorado we get this local corn from Olathe, Colorado. It is known for its sweetness and despite the drought and heat conditions this summer, it’s as sweet as ever. I am not sure where else they ship to but if you see Olathe Corn buy it. Obviously all local corn is sweet and delicious , so wherever you live pick some up.  I picked up 5 ears the other day as it just came in off the truck at Whole Foods. So what was I going to do with 5 ears of corn and 2 people to eat it?  I had seen this recipe and decided to make it my own with a few substitutions here and there. The original came from The Sussman Brother’s Cookbook. I used less cream, and since I only had 5 ears of corn, I couldn’t garnish the soup with more corn, so I would suggest an extra ear of corn when you are buying. I also made it with a bit of kick, but you can use less chili powder, or none at all.  I love soup all year round and when I saw this recipe using all these fresh ingredients I knew I had to make it. And yes, Joel loved it.

Here is my variation on the Sussman Brothers’ recipe.

Ingredients:

2 ripe but firm tomatoes

Kernels from 6 ears of corn (the sixth will be used for garnish. I used 5 and didn’t garnish.)

2 red bell peppers

1 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 1/2 – 3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for my vegetarian friends)

1 tsp. chipotle chili powder * (This will give it a good kick. If you prefer less heat, then use less or eliminate all together if you don’t like any heat. I like the smoky heat the chili powder gives the soup.)

1 /2 cup heavy cream (you can use more but I found that 1/2 cup is sufficient)

2 tbsp. kosher salt

*Sliced avocado for garnish is always nice if you’d like

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put tomatoes in a glass baking dish lightly sprayed with Pam. Roast tomatoes in oven till skin starts to darken, about 1/2 hour. (You just want to be able to remove skins easily.) Remove from oven and allow to cool. Keep oven on.

I put my red bell peppers on the grill and char them, and then when they cooled off I remove charred outer skin, and cut them into pieces.

I removed corn from the cobs using my bundt pan. Then spread the corn in a single layer on a baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil, and roasted corn for about 15 – 20 minutes in the 375 degree oven until the corn starts to turn a golden brown color.

Remove skins from tomatoes, remove charred skins from peppers while the corn is cooking in the oven.

In a soup pot  (Le Creuset), put 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Over medium heat, put in onions and let them become translucent, then add in the garlic (a quick stir) then add the tomatoes, peppers and corn. Add enough broth to cover vegetables (about 2 – 2 1/2 cups) and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until all veggies are very tender. I let it simmer for about a half hour. Add broth if you need to. Add chili powder if you’re using it and salt. I let it sit for a bit off the heat and cool. Then using my immersion blender I start to blend soup until it’s smooth, adding the cream a little at a time. (I only used 1/2 cup of cream for entire pot of soup and it was perfectly smooth and rich.) Taste for salt. If you’d like, garnish with additional corn, or avocado slices, or both. I served it hot. It will probably serve 6 nicely.