Monday, September 8, 2014

Rosie Makes Creamy Corn Soup With Fresh Herbs And Two Red Pepper Sauces.

  I love my summer vegetables and herbs.
Today, I'm picking sweet corn, red bell peppers,
some little hot firecracker peppers,
and parsley, chives, basil, and thyme.

Rosie wants corn soup!

Creamy Corn Soup With Two Red Pepper Sauces
(Makes 1 quart.)

4 ears of fresh sweet corn, kernels sliced off
2 TB unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 TB unsalted butter
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 heavy cream
2 TB apple cider 
1/2 cup chicken broth
kosher salt, to taste

Red Bell Pepper Sauce
 Red Hot Pepper Sauce

Minced parsley, chives, basil, and thyme

Slice kernels off the cob into a bowl, reserving any liquid.
Heat a 2 1/2 quart pan over medium heat and add 2 TB butter.
Swirl to melt then add the onion.
Sauté onion until soft, stirring, about 3 minutes.
Add in 1 TB butter, let melt, then add in the corn.
Sauté about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If some of the kernels have a bit of bronze on them,
that's a good thing.
It's sweet caramelization and adds more flavor.
Add in milk, cream, cider, chicken broth, and salt.
Bring to a simmer.
Do not boil.

 Whup it all up in a food processor until nice and creamy.
You might want to do this in batches.
Hot liquid + processor = spew
Taste-test.
Season with kosher salt to taste.
If soup is too thick for your tastes, 
add in milk or broth until you like the consistency.

Serve with fresh basil, parsley, chives, and thyme
and a few drops of the pepper oils.


Rosie Note: 
You could use whatever milk you have.
I just happen to always have heavy cream and skim milk on hand,
never whole, 1%, or 2%, 
so I use the two I have, in varying percentages, 
depending on what I'm making.

Slice off the kernels, reserving any milk.
You could use a bundt pan to do this
or my little system.
Either way, very little loss of kernels.

 One medium onion, minced.
About 3/4 - 1 cup.

Now, here's a tip:
Waste not.  Want not.
Save the cobs.
For broth.
Cobs into a pot. 
Add bay leaves.
Quartered onions with skins.
Sliced garlic.
Celery stalks with leaves.
Cover with water.
Salt and pepper.
Cook down.
Lowlowlow!
Reduce.
Intensify the flavor.
Add more water if you think you need it.
Use it or freeze it for later.


Hot Red Pepper Sauce (on left) 
 I picked several hot red peppers from the garden
(different varieties)
and finely diced them.
Sauté in olive oil until very soft but not browned.
Let sit in the oil for at least an hour.
Process until smooth,
adding more oil if needed.
I used a Sicilian lemon infused olive oil.

Sweet Red Bell Pepper Sauce
Slice a red bell and sauté in olive oil until soft.
Process until smooth,
adding more oil if needed.
I used a Persian lime infused olive oil.

Serve with assorted herbs and dots of red pepper sauces.


 I didn't think this could get any better ...
until I put some bacon marmalade on it.

Bacon Marmalade
8 ounces bacon, diced
1 medium onion, minced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 TB maple syrup (Use the real deal.)
1 tsp coarse grained mustard
freshly ground pepper
Cut the bacon into small dices and fry over low heat until crisp.
Take your time so the bacon cooks evenly and slowly - about 20 minutes, pushing the bits around every now and then.
Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels.
Reserve about 1 TB bacon grease in the pan.
Add in onions and cook until onions are tender and translucent.
Add in brown sugar and cook about a minute.
Add in vinegar and mustard and cook until vinegar almost evaporates.
Add in maple syrup and pepper.
Return bacon to pan and stir to coat.
Store in refrigerator.

3 comments:

Rocquie said...

This looks delicious, Rosie. I am wondering though why you used chicken broth rather than the corn broth you made with the cobs? I'm going to make some of that marmalade! Cheers, Rocquie

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Hi Rocquie. I used the chicken broth because I had an open carton in the fridge that I needed to use up, plus the corn broth was still reducing.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

That marmalade is da bombe!