Fresh Corn and Potato Soup

Week 9 (8/3 pick up): carrots, beets, chard, green beans, tomatillo, onions, watermelon, corn, cherry tomatoes, basil



Fresh Corn and Potato Soup
If you are wondering what to do with all that corn that is stock piled in your fridge, here's a super easy recipe that you'll want to make again and again. It's amazingly creamy without any cream. The creamy texture comes from pureed corn. I first had this soup at a Cooking Club dinner. My friend Sarah made it and said that her mom found the recipe in a Gourmet Magazine from September 2000.

The batch it makes is pretty small. I would say that it serves only two people. So I would recommend at least doubling or tripling it if you want to serve more than a couple or want leftovers. I'm planning to freeze some toward the end of the summer - hoping to get that fresh summer corn taste into the fall/winter.

INGREDIENTS:
4 ears corn
2 red potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon corn starch
pinch of sugar
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 T butter
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced (optional for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:
Cut off corn kernels. I usually separate the best kernels (my first pass at cutting them off the cob) from the rest of the corn (subsequent passes on the cob to get the most corn off of it that I can). Puree 2 cups of kernels (the second pass kernels). Save the rest (the first pass kernels). Force the pureed corn through a fine sieve and discard the solids. Add starch, sugar and salt to remaining pureed corn.

Boil potatoes until tender and set aside. Cook onion in butter til soft, on low heat in a pot. Add reserved kernels, potatoes and water. Simmer briskly, covered, til corn is tender but still crisp, 4-5 minutes.

Stir corn puree into kernels and potatoes in pot. Bring to a boil, stirring. Simmer 2 minutes. Season with pepper, stir in chives. Thin with water if desired.