Farmstand Recipe - Fresh Corn Soup

This was really good. I am always looking for different ways of cooking corn on the cob. Since I live in NJ, I live within 5 minutes of a farm that grows corn. Just wonderful.

Summer Corn Soup

5 ears sweet corn, shucked
1/2 cup milk, or more as needed
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped, trimmings saved
2 celery stalks, chopped, trimmings saved
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large Yukon Gold potato, peeled & chopped*
4 cups Corn Broth**, or chicken broth
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
15 basil leaves, julienned

Cut the kernels from the cobs and place in a large saucepan. Reserve the cobs for the broth. Add the milk and bring to a low boil over MED heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

In a separate saucepan, melt the butter and olive oil together over MED heat. Add the onion, reduce heat to LOW, and cook, stirring often, until the onion is very soft and translucent, about 20 minutes. Add the celery and cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes, longer to soften. Stir in the garlic and saute for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the potato, 4 cups of broth, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and bring to a LOW boil over MED-HIGH heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. Stir in the corn milk mixture and half of the basil. Cool slightly.

Ladle half the soup into the bowl of a food processor or the jar of a blender fitted with a metal blade and process until smooth or use an immersion blender, making sure to stop blending before the soup is prueed. You want some of the vegetables to remain slightly chunky. Add the pureed soup back to the pot and stir to mix. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste and serve warm or chilled, garnished with the remaining basil.

Risa's notes:

* I couldn't get Yukon Gold so I used 1 russet potato
** Corn Broth is a broth made from the empty cobs, a bay leaf, onion and celery trimmings, and the stems from the basil. It is boiled in 4 quarts of water for 45 minutes and then strained and used for the broth.

Serves 6
adapted from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster
Posted by RisaG