Yes, with the season coming to an end, I am binging on corn. I froze some, I canned some, pickled some and made chowder with some. We are meat eaters around here, but this soup is wonderful without it. This is also a great way to handle your neighbor. You know, the one that keeps bringing you those submarine sized zucchini that you don’t know what to do with.
Ingredients
8-12 ears of sweet corn husked and cut from the Cobb.
1/2 pound of thick sliced bacon-cut up
1 large sweet onion-chopped
4 celery ribs chopped
3 carrots peeled & chopped
2 large potatoes-diced
3 medium zucchini-diced
2 garlic cloves-minced
1 tsp of dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
1 cup Heavy Cream
8 cups (Chicken or Vegetable stock) OR water
salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste
chopped fresh parsley & a pinch of cayenne for serving (Optional)
Method:
Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a heavy stockpot or Dutch oven and begin to brown the bacon. After bacon turns crisp 3-4 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the onion, celery, carrots, potatoes and thyme and cook for 5 to 7 minutes stirring occasionally until veg begins to soften slightly. Add garlic in the final minute on the heat.
Remove veg and set aside.
Add the butter to the pot. When melted, whisk in the flour to make a thickening roux. When the rawness has been cooked from the flour, add the liquid of your choice. Stir until thickened. (It will not thicken until it reaches a boil)
When thickened, add the corn, zucchini and reserved vegetables. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, add heavy cream and remove bay leaves.
Garnish with parsley and bacon. Perhaps a little cayenne.
Note: if you have a gluten issue or choose not to use flour, you may also thicken the soup by ladeling a few cups of soup into a blender of food processor to puree. When smooth, pour it back into the soup. The starch from the potatoes and corn will thicken the soup.