Corn Soup with Chiles, Cilantro, and Lime

• cookbooks
• fresh corn
• immersion blender
• lime
• southwest
• Summer

It’s summer. Take advantage of the wonderful fresh corn – it’s never as flavorful or sweet or inexpensive as it is now and for the next couple of months – and make yourself a batch of this surprisingly light summer soup. Enjoy it on your front porch with a slice of fresh bread, some salad, and, perhaps, a festive beverage.

This is my adaptation of Sally Schneider’s recipe as published in A New Way To Cook.

Ingredients:

Procedure:

1. With a very sharp knife, cut corn kernels from the cob. This should yield about five cups of kernels. Reserve the cobs.
2. In a large, heavy stockpot, combine the olive oil, onion and shallot and cook over medium-low heat, covered, until the onions are translucent.
3. Stir in the corn and cook for about 4 minutes longer.
4. Stir in the garlic, peppers, and cumin seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cumin is very fragrant.
5. Add the salt, sugar, stock, milk and reserved cobs.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, covered, until the corn is very tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.
7. Remove corncobs and puree at least 50% of the soup. I recommend using an immersion blender, though a food processor or blender will get the job done just fine. If using either of the latter two, exercise caution moving the very hot soup around.
8. Season to taste with black pepper.
9. Garnish with freshly minced cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. Serves about six.