Fall is near. The leaves have started to turn, the weather has become noticeably more comfortable, and football season is upon us. I love, love, love this time of year! I can live on soup so as soon as it is comfortable enough to make some, I do!
This is a great transition season soup. It’s not too heavy, corn is reminiscent of summer, and it goes well with a white wine. It’s not quite the chowder I had in mind (if you “like” me on Facebook you may have seen I mentioned chowder). Not my favorite soup, I save that for Lentil which I will post some day, I swear. But it was good. Especially with the bacon and mushrooms on top. In fact, I think it would be much less tasty without the mushrooms and bacon.
We saved several corn cobs over the summer and froze them to make corn stock. Don’t fret if you didn’t plan way ahead like me. I’m a dork like that. Some of you may still be able to find fresh corn and if so…lucky you! The corn stock is totally worth the extra step. It smells so intoxicating. Who knew those little cobs had so much flavor?
This recipe is from Michael Symon’s book “Live to Cook,”which is on my wish list. Along with about 15 other cook books.
Corn and Mushroom Soup
Recipe from Michael Symon, found on “Eats Well with Others”
Difficulty: Easy
Time: Hands on 20 to 30 mins total, 1 to 2 hours for simmering
Ingredients
Corn Cob Stock
- 6 ears of corn
- 1 red onion, chopped (I used a yellow because that’s all I had)
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted
- 2 quarts chicken stock
- 1 tsp salt
Soup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 recipe seared wild mushrooms (take 1 lb of mixed wild mushrooms, saute them with olive oil, salt, thyme, shallots and garlic)
- 1/2 cup crumbled, cooked bacon
Notes: I did things a bit differently based on my ingredients. I had frozen cobs that I had saved so I just used frozen corn kernels. If you don’t have corn cobs, just omit the cobs and use frozen kernels but still enhance your stock with the onion, garlic, thyme, and coriander. I sautéed the mushrooms (I used cremini but really wanted some shitake!) with the bacon. Delicious. I also used whole milk in place of the heavy cream and added an onion. Instead of thyme in the soup, I used sage because I wanted a little more hint of fall in the soup. The point of the story is….play with your ingredients to make the soup the way you want it!
Directions
1. Cut the corn from the cobs and set aside.
2. Place the cobs into a large pot with the onion, garlic, thyme, coriander, stock, and salt. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain the liquid through a mesh strainer, discarding the solids. You should have about 4 cups. Use immediately or store in refrigerator overnight.
3. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, a pinch of salt and sweat for a couple of minutes. Add the corn kernels and sweat for another couple of minutes. Add the thyme (or sage, or oregano….), stock, and milk and simmer for another 45 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté your mushrooms and bacon together.
4. Scoop out about 1 cup of the corn kernels and set aside. Puree the remaining soup with whatever tool you have…immersion blender, food processor, etc. Return the kernels to the soup.
5. Garnish with mushrooms and bacon. Enjoy!
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