Roasted Corn Poblano Chowder Recipes

ROASTED POBLANO CHICKEN AND CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut poblanos in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spray poblanos with non-stick cooking spray and roast for 8-10 minutes or until skins begin to blacken. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
• In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes or until tender.
• Dice roasted poblanos and add them to the pot along with chili powder and cumin and cook a few minutes longer.
• Add 4 cups of chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are just tender. Stir in cooked chicken and corn.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the half and half, remaining 1/4 cup broth and 4 tablespoons of flour.
• Whisk the broth/flour/half and half mixture into the soup until smooth. Add sour cream and stir until well blended. Simmer for 5-10 minutes to allow soup to thicken.
• Stir in the crumbled bacon and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with optional toppings, if desired.

CORN AND ROASTED POBLANO SOUP

Steps:

• Combine the milk, cumin seeds, bay leaves and rosemary in a medium saucepan. Place over low heat and bring nearly to a simmer. (Do not boil.) Remove from the heat and let sit 20 minutes to infuse.
• Heat the olive oil or butter in a large saucepan or stockpot over medium heat. Cook the onions with the salt until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the garlic and ground cumin and cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Then stir in the corn kernels and diced chilies and continue cooking over low heat 5 more minutes.
• Using your finest strainer, strain the infused herbal milk into the corn and chili mixture. Bring to a very slow simmer over low heat. Gently simmer 15 minutes.
• Pour one third of the soup into a food processor or blender and puree. Stir back into the soup pot. Serve hot with the chives as garnish.

ROASTED POBLANO CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Blacken all sides of the poblano peppers under broil in the oven, roasting and turning them until each side is blackened. Place the peppers in a paper bag to sweat the skins. When they are cool, use your fingers or a paper towel to remove the skins and discard them. Cut the peppers in half, destem, and deseed. Roughly chop the peppers and set aside.
• In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat, then add onion and saute until translucent. Add garlic and saute for a minute longer, then add potatoes, vegetable stock, cumin, thyme, and salt. Lower heat and bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are soft but not falling apart. Add fresh corn, chopped poblano chilies, and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Blend the soup to make a thick base. I use an immersion blender. Stir in the half and half.
• Pour the soup into bowls. Top with pepper, cilantro, avocado, and lime slices.

CREAMY CORN AND POBLANO SOUP

Steps:

• Take the corn off the cobs. You should have about 5 cups kernels. Set aside 1 cup of the kernels.
• Place the corn cobs in a large soup pot and add the water. Make sure they are covered or at least floating in the water; you can break them in half if they are very large. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, partly cover and simmer 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Remove and discard the cobs. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Strain the broth and measure out 5 cups. Freeze any leftover broth.
• Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy soup pot and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until it is tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds, and then add the 4 cups of corn kernels and salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, for 4 to 5 minutes, until the corn is just tender. Add the corn broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile roast the chilies, either directly over a gas flame or under a broiler, turning often until they are uniformly charred. Transfer to a plastic bag and seal, or transfer to a bowl and cover tightly. Allow the peppers to cool, then remove the charred skin, rinse and past dry. Remove the seeds and veins (I recommend that you wear plastic gloves for this) and cut in thin strips or dice.
• Steam the kernels set aside for the garnish for 5 minutes, until tender. Set aside.
• Working in batches, purée the soup in a blender, taking care to remove the insert from the top and cover tightly with a kitchen towel to avoid splashes. Return to the heat, taste and adjust salt, and heat through.
• Ladle the soup into bowls. Combine the steamed corn kernels and diced chilies and place a spoonful in the middle of each bowl of soup. Garnish with a sprinkling of cilantro or chives if desired, and serve.

POBLANO CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Cut up the potatoes and remove the kernels of corn from the cobs with a knife. Set aside in a large bowl, or wherever you have room. (I held the corn IN a bowl while I cut so the kernels didn't fly everywhere so much.).
• In a large pot (this recipe makes about 14 cups, so pretty large), boil the broth and the corn cobs together for about 15-20 minutes.
• Remove the cobs and let cool. Scrape the remaining corn bits into the pot of broth. You can use a butter knife or spoon. Let this pot rest for a moment.
• In a large skillet, melt butter or use non-fat cooking spray and saute the chopped onions and bell peppers until just tender.
• Add to this skillet the garlic and poblanos and continue to saute until poblanos are tender too.
• Dump the onion/pepper/garlic mixture into the broth pot. Add the chipotle(s) (whole so they can be removed if you like) and some of the adobo sauce (2 T. is a rough estimate).
• Bring to a boil and simmer about 5 minutes.
• Add potatoes and corn and simmer until potatoes are al dente ;) Maybe 20 minutes?.
• Turn off the heat. Add cream.
• Ladle about half of the soup into a blender (you may have to do this in batches) and blend with the cheese. (I do 2 batches, so I use half the cheese in the first batch and half in the second.).
• Call everyone to dinner.
• You can offer cilantro as a garnish (or even add a bit to the soup pot if everyone likes it.).

SOUTHWESTERN CHICKEN CHOWDER W/ ROASTED CORN AND POBLANO PEPPERS

Steps:

• Spread whole kernel corn one-layer deep over cookie sheet. Roast at 400 for approximately 15 - 20 minutes, until kernels brown slightly. Remove from pan; reserve. (If you prefer not to roast corn, that would be fine.).
• Peel potatoes and chop, about 3/4". Place in pot, cover with water plus one inch. Do not add salt. Cook through; when fork passes through potatoes easily, they are done. Drain and reserve.
• Heat oil in large stockpot over medium heat. Add carrots, onions, garlic, poblano peppers (see note #1 below), salt, white pepper, cumin, all chili powders or blends (see note #2 below), and thyme. Saute for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.
• (**For a more creamy soup, when the veggies are tender, add a cup of chicken stock to mixture and transfer to blender. Puree and return to the pot. Alternatively, for half creamy/half chunky consistency, take half (or more, or less) the veggies, add the stock and puree, then return to pot.**).
• Stir in chicken bouillon (suggestion: do it by quarters and taste. Too much bouillon can add unneeded salt). Add (the rest of) the chicken broth, tomato sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, cilantro and corn and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. After this, add potatoes and the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until the chowder is thick and the chicken and potatoes are heated through.
• Shortly before the chowder is done, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes to cook the flour. Do not allow the mixture to brown! Ladle 1 cup of the hot liquid from the stockpot into the skillet, whisking constantly.
• When the first cup of liquid is incorporated, add another 2 cups of liquid, 1 at a time. Pour the mixture in the skillet into the stockpot, whisking to blend. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes longer, or until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove pot from the heat. Stir in cream, blending, heating. Serve.
• note #1:Green poblanos are always cooked or roasted. Use broiler or gas oven. After 80% of the skin has blistered, place poblanos in brown paper bag for ten minutes. Then under cold running water rub off tough outer skin, seed and peel, then chop/dice.
• note #2: Canned chipotles work as well, simply mince them and add to soup according to desired heat. Dehydrated chipotles work too; grind them then add according to desired heat.
• note #3: Go slowly with nutmeg and cinnamon, as these are unique flavors. Some like more, some like less.
• note #4: Salt and pepper amounts listed are somewhat conservative. Adjust to your personal taste.