Cooking with Kitten: Fresh Corn Chowder

This morning, after having gone for bloodwork at the outpatient center, I was delighted to come upon the local farmers' market, here in town every Tuesday and Thursday till October. I ran home, got one of my resusable shopping bags, and headed back to the south green.

There were only three vendors there today, selling, among other things, baked goods, zucchini, scallions, tomatoes, and corn on the cob. The corn on the cob was freshly picked this very morning! I bought six ears, psyched, because last week, I found a recipe for fresh corn chowder as I was reading The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, Mollie Katzen's sequel to The Moosewood Cookbook.

I took the corn home, husked it, and carefully used my santoku knife to scrape the kernels off each cob. I had enough fresh corn to make the chowder.

And without further ado, here is the recipe, which can be found on page 10 of The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.

FRESH CORN CHOWDER

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium-sized potato
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 to 3 tablespoons butter (I use Smart Balance)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 medium stalk celery, minced
• 1 small red bell pepper, minced
• about 5 cups corn (5-6 ears or a one-pound bag frozen/defrosted)
• fresh black pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 cup milk (lowfat or soy OK; I use soy) at room temperature

DIRECTIONS:

1. Scrub or peel the potato, and cut it into small dice. Place it in a small saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook until tender but not mushy. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion and salt, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring. After 5 minutes, add celery and keep cooking. About 5 minutes later, add the cooked potatoes with all their liquid, the red bell pepper, corn, black pepper, and herbs. Stir well and cover. Reduce heat and let it cook about 5 minutes more.
3. Use a blender or food processor to puree about half the solids in some of the soup's own liquid. Return this to the pot, and let it rest until serving time.
4. Stir in the milk about 10 minutes before serving. Heat the soup gently--don't cook it any further. Serve as soon as it's hot.

KITTEN'S NOTES:

• Once you add the corn, bell pepper, potatoes, black pepper, and herbs, it will look as if you need to add more water to the pot. DON'T. The veggies will give off liquid in the pot, and the puree will add liquid, too. I made the mistake of adding 4 additional cups of water the first time I made this, and it resulted in very watery chowder.
• This is really good served with a side of crusty bread.
• When it's in season, use fresh corn. It's really, really worth it, and you can really taste the difference over the frozen variety.