Here is one of the three soups from my cooking demonstration at the McLean Community Center. In the process of preparing this dish, we came upon a couple of improvements. Bacon really helps the taste of the soup, but removing cut pieces was a hassle, so use whole strips to facilitate pulling them out of the pot at Step 5. We didn’t see the need for adding diced potatoes, which was called for in my recipe, so, they’re out. Grilling the corn? Indeed!
GRILLED CORN CHOWDER
Yield: about 1 quart, 4 servings
See Abbreviations, if needed
10 corn on the cob, with husks
3 strips bacon, uncut
1 large onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 leek, diced, white part only
1 red pepper, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, pureed
BG sachet of bay leaf, thyme leaves, parsley stems and pepper corns
3C chicken stock
1C half and half
2t hot sauce (Tennessee Sunshine)
1T Worcestershire sauce
¼ C fresh chopped parsley
¼C crème fraîche (optional)
S/P
The corn:
1. Pull back husks, clean, butter and salt the corncob and rehusk
2. Grill the corn over medium heat for about 20 minutes, turning once
3. Remove the corn to a sheet pan and, when cool enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cob. Scrape any pulp remaining on the cobs with the back of your chef’s knife
4. Add half the kernels to the pulp and puree with a blender.
Set pureed corn and kernels aside, separately
The soup base:
5. In a heavy pot, sweat bacon strips and finely chopped onions,
celery, leeks and pepper Add the pureed corn. Add BG and garlic.
Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes
6. Add stock, BTB, remove the bacon strips and then simmer another 10 minutes
The chowder:
7. Add the corn kernels
8. Simmer another 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper
9. Remove from heat and add hot sauce and Worcestershire. Taste again
10. Warm half and half, add to the chowder. Taste once more
11. Adjust thickness with half and half or with water. If this step is necessary, bring the soup back to boil for a minute or less
12. Serve hot. Garnish with a dusting of chopped parsley and a dollop of crème fraîche
