Summer Corn Soup

We have recently begun to see some really beautiful fresh corn popping up at the grocery stores here in Bermuda. You have to grab it quick though! It seems to be sold out in an hour everywhere I go. Mandi and I wanted to do something that highlighted the fresh corn flavor. We decided on a simple soup with not too many ingredients to cloud or confuse the corn. At the last minute, the addition of masa harina enhanced a different type of corn flavor, and thickened the soup to a perfect silky consistency.

Mandi shucking the corn.

That’s a lot of corn!

Cutting the cobs so they would fit better in the pot.

I removed the chunks from this corn stock, but didn’t worry about trying to strain out every particle.

Building the soup flavors. Butter and jalapenos are pretty good friends with corn.

We only blended up one blenderful of the soup. This way some of the corn was used to thicken the soup, some of the corn was half ripped up, and some kernels were more whole.

Masa Harina. Keep whisking!

Some toast with a little parm for garnish.

Perfect Texture.

This was really great, so good in fact, that even with that whole pot of soup we only had a little left over! I think this soup is best lukewarm rather than piping hot. It is a summer soup after all!

Summer Corn Soup
Corn from 12 ears. Keep the empty cobs.
1 box chicken broth mixed with equal parts water
Half cup masa harina
6 jalapenos, seeded, diced
8 cloves garlic, half diced, half peeled
1 small onion, diced
Basil
Cilantro
Butter
Salt
Pepper

Put emptied cobs into broth/water mixture over high heat. Add the peeled garlic and tablespoon salt. Bring to boil, reduce to medium. Cook covered 45 minutes. Strain out cob chunks but keep liquid. In another pot, cook onion and jalapeno in knob of butter with salt and pepper. After 5 minutes, add garlic and another knob of butter. Add corn and salt well. Stir and cook 5 minutes. Add corn stock. Cook 5 minutes. Take one blenderful of soup with plenty of corn chunks. Add a handful of basil to blender. puree until smooth. Add back to pot. (you could also use a hand blender. You want the soup to be half blended and half chunky.) Whisk in a half cup of masa harina and keep whisking with the heat on for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with toast and optional cilantro.