Creamy and sweet with a touch of heat, this soup is fabulous served after a brisk walk on a cold day! Welcome Fall with my Jalapeno Corn Bisque! Click to skip to the recipe
We took a drive through the countryside this past week. This was by complete accident. We were on our way to our friend’s home across the state, about a three-hour drive. Usually, we take freeway to by-pass freeway to alternate state road freeway and bam…we’re there. Not this time. I pecked in the address, plugged the phone into the car, and listened to my (Aussie-voiced) virtual assistant as he directed me along the way. In an entirely different way! We were on roads that we had never traveled. Once hubby looked up from his iPad and asked me where we were…and I couldn’t say…we began to look around at our whereabouts. We drove through town after town and passed farm after farm and noticed the fields full of growing cornstalks. Hubby noted that it was soon to be harvest time for that corn and that was just enough insight to send me off in that direction.
I found my recipe for Jalapeno Corn Bisque from Canvas and Cuisine and altered it by placing the ingredients into a slow cooker while I skedaddled towards errand running. The results were delish. But I pushed the meal up a step by adding a wedge of home-baked focaccia bread (Also, a recipe from Canvas and Cuisine). Now, it was both delish and tummy-filling.
If you are in the mountains of North Carolina, then you know fall is in the air. If you are living by the ocean in Florida, then you are experiencing the dog days of summer. Either way, you will find corn is most plentiful at this time of year and I invite you to “harvest” some of your own and chow down on this really yummy soup.
Jalapeno Corn Bisque
Creamy and sweet with a touch of heat, this soup is fabulous served after a brisk walk on a cold day; I like my bowls fireside! I was introduced to this soup, by a super chef in Banner Elk, North Carolina. It was that kind of bone-chilling Autumn day when you just need a big bowl of soup to warm you from the inside out. It didn’t hurt that the corn is grown right down the street from the restaurant.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped, about 1 cup
1 whole leek, washed, white part chopped, about 1 cup
4 large jalapeno peppers, seeded, veins removed, diced, about 1 cup
8 ears of corn, kernels removed from cobb, about 6 cups
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup sherry
3 cups homemade chicken stock or prepared low sodium broth
4 cups half and half
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour mixed with 1 tablespoon room temperature butter (beurre manié)
Fresh chopped cilantro
Serves: 8
Time: 60-Minute Cuisine
Heat the olive oil in a deep soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, leek, and jalapeno pepper and cook until beginning to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the corn and cook for 5 minutes more. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder. Pour in the sherry. Cook until the liquid is almost all evaporated, about 3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the veggies are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Use your gadget of choice (food processor, blender, or immersion blender) to emulsify the soup.
Return the soup to the pot if you have used a blender or food processor. Heat the soup over low heat. Stir in the half and half. Drop small pieces of the beurre manié (flour mixed with butter) into the soup. Stir until the soup thickens to your desired consistency. You can add more cream to thin the soup or more of the beurre manié to thicken it.
Garnish with fresh herbs, cheddar cheese, salsa, cooked bacon, or all the above!
This is the time of year that you want simple, fresh suppers that are leisurely served on the veranda or back deck.
Picture a pitcher of frosty strawberry lemonade, a vase filled with flowers plucked from your garden, and a basket of cornbread swimming in honey butter.
The scene is set!
…and so is the supper.
This one features corn on the cob.
First, I grill it and blend it with sweet baby tomatoes, cucumbers, and green onions.Then it’s tossed with a lemon balsamic vinaigrette. Shaved Parmesan cheese tops off this simple summer salad.
The second dish begins with salmon (I had some leftover) that turns into delicious salmon cakes. Corn kernels in the cakes, cornbread crumbs both for binding and for dredging and corn-spike tartar sauce take these cakes way, way over the top!
This easy summer supper is so good that even if your veranda is invaded by mosquitos or the flowers in your garden have wilted, or you feel the need to spike your lemonade, summertime will shine through!
Enjoy!
Grilled Corn Salad With Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
Ingredients
This simple salad comes together in minutes and is a perfect outdoor supper side dish.
For salad:
6 fresh ears of corn
1 English cucumbers, cut into ½-inch chunks
1 bunch green onions, diced, about ½ cup
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
For vinaigrette:
1 bunch basil leaves, about 1 cup
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
Juice of 1 lemon, about ¼ cup
¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, shaved, about ½ cup
Serves: A crowd
Time: 20 minutes
Remove the husks from the corn and grill over medium heat, turning often, until the kernels are golden brown. Cool to room temperature. Cut the kernels from the cobs into a bowl. Add the cucumber, green onions, and cherry tomatoes.
Place the basil leaves into a blender or the bowl of a food processor. Add the mustard, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and honey. Pulse to combine. With the machine running, slowly pour in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle some of the dressing over the corn salad. Toss to just coat the veggies. You want just a bit of dressing; you don’t want it to be soggy. Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese.
Salmon and Corn Cakes With Fresh Corn Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
Adding fresh corn to the cakes and dredging in fresh cornbread crumbs adds a true Southern twist to this everyday staple. And then….. we put corn in the sauce. Now that’s FUN!
For salmon cakes
2 cups cooked salmon, flaked
2 garlic scapes, chopped, about 2 tablespoons (you can substitute with 2 garlic cloves, minced)
¼ medium red onion, peeled and finely diced, about 2 tablespoons
½ yellow bell pepper, finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
½ cup cooked corn kernels (you can use grilled corn)
2 cups fresh cornbread crumbs, divided
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
Olive oil for sautéing
For creamed corn tartar sauce:
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
Juice of 1 lemon, about 2 tablespoons
3 tablespoons, cooked corn kernels, chopped
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Yield: 18 bite size cakes and about 6 large cakes
Time: 45 minute cuisine
Place the salmon into a bowl. Add the garlic, 2 tablespoons diced red onion, yellow pepper, 2 tablespoons each of dill and parsley. Add the corn kernels and ½ cup of the cornbread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, whisk together ¼ cup mayonnaise, egg, and mustard. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl and toss everything together.
Place the remaining corn breadcrumbs into a shallow plate. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out balls of the salmon mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. For bite-size cakes, use a 1-inch scoop. For main course cakes, use a 3-inch scoop. Flatten the balls into patties. Dredge each on in the corn breadcrumbs and return to the baking sheet. Place the cakes into the freezer to chill for 15 minutes.
For the tartar sauce, stir together ½ cup mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, chopped corn kernels, 2 tablespoons red onion and 1 tablespoon dill. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a skillet. You want enough oil in the skillet to just coat the bottom of the pan. Remove the cakes from the freezer and carefully place into the hot oil. Cook until the bottom of the cake is golden brown. Use a spatula to turn the cakes and cook until golden on the other side. The amount of time will differ depending on the size of the cake. It will only be a few minutes for bite-size cakes and about 5 to 7 minutes total for larger cakes.
Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of the sauce. Garnish with fresh dill.
Make-Ahead Tip:
You can make these ahead and freeze them until you are ready. Bring them to room temperature before you cook them.
Overboard Tip:
This recipe calls for leftover salmon. However, you can bake salmon in just a few minutes in the oven and then cool to room temperature. I sprinkle the salmon with lemon juice and olive oils and then coat in a rub of 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon each of chili powder, onion powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Season with salt and pepper and bake at 400°for 20 minutes for every 1-inch of thickness.
As any visitor to Jorj.com might surmise, summer and its farmer’s markets are a big deal to me. I try to visit one every Saturday – not just for ingredients to use in weekend dinners, but for recipe ideas to take me and my family through the season with full bellies and empty plates. This month, inspiration struck when I passed a vendor making Mexican street corn.
I play with corn in Canvas & Cuisine – fresh, roasted ears get slathered in a savory pesto sauce. I was reminded of those flavors when I tasted corn on a stick at the farmer’s market this weekend. I could isolate all kinds of yummy flavors – from peppers to lime juice. There was the tang of tomato and cojita cheese, and bright notes of cilantro – and like all good things, the undeniable presence of sour cream.
Determined to go home and duplicate that taste, I hit the various veggie stands and came back with everything I needed to make Mexican Street Corn – only thing is, it rains a lot in the summer, and backyard BBQs aren’t always possible. I transformed the dish into a skillet version that went over really well as a side this Father’s Day.
A popular item, there were requests for more. I’d run out of fresh corn on the cob at that point and discovered that frozen kernels work just as well. The results were super savory and the juiciness at the bottom of the bowl so good, it got my mind on corn chowder recipes for fall – just gotta get through this beastly summer first!
So, here’s my lighting fast recipe for a bright summer side dish – you can make it in the time it takes a thunderstorm to roll past your house, and the sun to start shining again!
Mexican Street Corn Skillet Style
15 minute cuisine
Serves 4
4 cups corn kernels (shucked from fresh ears of corn or frozen)
1 large red tomato, diced
1 bunch chives, washed and chopped, about ½ cup
1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped, about ½ cup
Juice of 1 lime
1/3 cup cojita or feta cheese
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon sour cream
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for sautéing
In a skillet set on high heat, sauté the corn, herbs, lime juice, cheese, and cayenne in 2 tablespoons olive oil for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the sour cream and mix with a spatula, lowering heat. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
As any visitor to Jorj.com might surmise, summer and its farmer’s markets are a big deal to me. I try to visit one every Saturday – not just for ingredients to use in weekend dinners, but for recipe ideas to take me and my family through the season with full bellies and empty plates. This month, inspiration struck when I passed a vendor making Mexican street corn.
