Simple Summer Corn Soup Recipes

SUMMER CORN SOUP

Steps:

• Husk corn. Dice onion and mince garlic. Cut jalapeños in half lengthwise, discard seeds and mince. Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise, discards seeds and dice. Chiffonade basil leaves.
• For the corn stock, cut kernels off corn ears and reserves cobs. In large pot, combine cobs, bay leaf, peppercorns, 1 pinch salt and 16 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Place stockpot over medium-low heat and add oil. Add onion, jalapeño and red peppers. Stir vegetables until onions are translucent and peppers are soft but not brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and stir 1 and 1/2 minutes more, until garlic is golden but not brown. Increase heat to medium, and add butter and corn kernels. Add a tablespoon salt, pepper to taste and stir for about 4 minutes. Adds more salt and pepper to taste. Add 6 cups corn stock. Stir broth. Add light cream or soy milk and stir. Cover pot and lower heat to simmer for 10 minutes.
• Using an immersion blender, purée soup coarsely, leaving some kernels partly broken or whole. Add more salt and pepper to taste and, if desired, smoked paprika. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with basil.

SWEET SUMMER CORN SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the stock in a large pot until it comes to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. While it's heating, cut off the corn kernels from the cobs (cutting in a large salad bowl helps keep the kernels from flying all over). You should have about 4 1/2 cups/680 g of kernels. Place the 6 cobs in the stockpot, and simmer them covered, while you prepare the rest of the soup ingredients (for at least 20 minutes).
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 3 minutes. Add the celery and thyme and sauté for another 4 minutes. Turn off the heat.
• Remove the cobs from the stockpot with tongs, and place them on a plate to cool. Add the sautéed vegetables, potatoes, 1 tsp salt, paprika, 1/4 tsp pepper, cayenne, and coriander to the pot and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, when the cooked cobs are cool enough to handle, take a sturdy knife and scrape down the sides of the cobs to collect the remainder of the kernels. This should yield about 1 cup/150 g of kernel bits.
• After the soup has cooked for 25 minutes, stir in the soymilk, corn kernels, and corn kernel bits. Simmer for 3 minutes. Remove 1 qt/960 ml of the soup and puree it in a blender or food processor until it's very smooth. Return the puree to the soup pot, and heat until it returns to a simmer, stirring frequently.
• While the soup simmers, hold the whole bell pepper with metal tongs over an open flame on the stovetop. Turn it frequently until the skin is charred all the way around, about 5 minutes. Remove it from the heat and let cool. Using a clean dishcloth, rub off the charred skin. Remove the stem and seeds and cut the flesh into a fine dice. Set aside.
• Turn off the heat for the soup and stir in the parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each one with some of the red bell pepper. Serve immediately.