corn soup

so i hadn't anticipated posting again so soon because i hadn't anticipated cooking any new recipes but i finally gave in and tried this one recipe my mom sent me this summer and it's so delicious i'm rushing over to post it while i have a minute this weekend!

it's a corn soup from BH&G magazine this summer, July 2012 issue from the stamp at the bottom of the page. i will admit first off I DID NOT USE FRESH CORN. this soup is a ton of work (relatively speaking) so i went cheap and bought canned corn (no salt added...i figured that's like using unsalted butter, one less ingredient to mess with). Granted, it was supposed to be made this summer when fresh corn was more readily available. i'm in a pumpkin kind of mood now, but this sounds up my alley this week.

so without further ado...

Fresh Corn Soup

4 T unsalted butter
1/2 c coarsely chopped Vidalia/sweet onion
4 c corn, freshly cut from the cob
1-2 T sugar
2-3 c milk
1 c half-and-half
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg, plus additional for grating over servings

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Add onion and cook gently for 3-5 minutes until tender; do not let onion brown. Add 3 1/2 c of the corn and sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Stir well and cook 5-7 minutes; again, do not let onions or corn brown. Stir in 1 T sugar.
2. (Meanwhile...) in a medium saucepan combine 2 c of the milk and the half-and-half, and warm over medium-low heat until heated through. Pour the corn mixture over the heated milk and over medium heat, stirring often, bring just to a simmer. Remove from heat. Cool slightly.
3. Puree soup in batches, 1/3 at a time, until very smooth. Pour into a fine wire strainer set over a bowl. Allow soup to drain through. Transfer soup back to pan. Reheat over medium heat; whisk in grated nutmeg. If thinner soup is desired, heat the remaining milk over medium heat and gradually stir into soup to desired consistency. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and some of remaining 1 T sugar. To serve, divide among bowls; top each with some of the remaining corn and dusting of additional nutmeg. Makes 4-6 servings.

And hey, i'm not sharing the caloric count. but it does have 3g fiber! 11g protein!

I also totally left out the onion. Oops. I forget to get one at the store this morning, since the recipe specified a Vidalia or sweet onion. I'm not a particular fan of onion in my soups (I can't ever cut it fine enough) and considering that this is basically a liquid, chunks of onion would be annoying. I haven't added any corn with serving; it's just me so I didn't feel the need. On reheating, I probably will. I also didn't end up adding any more salt or sugar in the last step, and I felt the nutmeg was enough. It's a sweet soup, but delicious. Seriously.

I was really hoping this soup was worth it cause i made a disaster of my kitchen. Put the milk in the bigger saucepan, btw. It helps. I have a colander that's wire mesh and that was helpful towards the end. I also definitely used my soup to 'help' with the straining. I only have a baby blender that "pulses" so you might get better corn results with a real blender/food processor, but I did okay with my pulsing.

This might be a good one to keep warm for the winter...