Sopa de jitomate y elote (Tomato & Corn Soup)

In the depths of winter, this soup is just fantastic. Recipe courtesy of Zarela Martinez.

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A post shared by P S (@crazychef_ps) on Feb 28, 2020 at 5:11pm PST

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1 large onion
6 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
6 tomatoes - use the best you can get but even crappy winter tomatoes will work
1 28-oz can of tomatoes
1-2 jalapeños - more if you like it spicier

6-8 sprigs cilantro (whole is fine)
1-2 springs cilantro - leaves separated and chopped finely - to serve

2 tbsp Mexican oregano - this is crucial!

1 cup corn (frozen is fine)

4 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp cumin

salt

olive oil

1/2 cup heavy cream

Note 1: If you have access to Mexican crema which is very similar to crème fraîche, use that instead but cream works fine too.

Note 2: The original recipe calls for it to be topped by cotija cheese but the CC didn't have any.

Recipe

Cut the tomatoes along the equator. Place them in an broiler-proof pan face up. Cut the onion into four parts. Place in the same pan. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves in there as well.

Broil all of them for 10-15 minutes. Check at the 10-minute mark since it has a tendency to burn. All three should be lightly charred.

Pass the tomatoes through a food mill. Coarsely chop the onions and garlic. (Don't worry too much. It's going to get puréed.)

In a skillet, roast the cumin seeds till fragrant.

In a pot, heat the oil. Fry the onions and garlic till fragrant. Add in the cumin, the tomatoes, the chopped jalapeños, the canned tomatoes, the broth, the whole sprigs of cilantro, and the corn. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Add salt to taste.

Purée the mixture either with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. If doing the latter, let it cool first because it will "explode" otherwise. Try to make the mixture as smooth as possible.

Return to the pot. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Add the cream, stir, and serve with the diced cilantro on top.

Sopa de elote y calabazín

Mexican chefs think of soup as an all-purpose instrument not just a winter thing. In fact, in the dog days of summer when nobody feels like eating, soups work better than heavier meals.

This dish is only going to work at the height of summer when corn and zucchini are at their very best.  It relies on the very best of ingredients and the chicken broth must be homemade not store bought.

Epazote is an herb that divides. It has a stinky smell analogous to asafoetida but once you love it, you won't be able to live without it. It is claimed to have the same anti-flatulent effect as asafoetida and it's heavily used with beans, corn, and most interestingly, zucchini!

This dish is complexly spiced in that Mexican way with chili peppers but it's emphatically not hot. It's very mild and soothing and absolutely phenomenal in this summer heat.

Ingredients

6 ears of corn (stripped into kernels)
2 small zucchini (diced into even cubes)

1 large onion (diced)

3 sprigs epazote

3 cups chicken broth (substitute by water)
3 cups water

salt
pepper

1 ancho chili
1 guajillo chili

"neutral" oil

1 lime quartered (to serve)
queso fresco (to serve)
crushed ancho chili (to serve)

Note 1: Since this is a summer dish, there were magnificent fresh onions in the market. This dish is a marvel with them. Use both the white parts and the green parts.

Note 2: Do not ignore the lime. This dish will not come "alive" until you squeeze it all over the soup.

Note 3: The reason to dilute the chicken broth is to make sure that the primary flavor is corn. In Mexico, they probably would go with straight chicken broth. However, the CC thinks that this tastes better.

Recipe

First roast the two chilis on a dried skillet until they are puffed and mildly charred on both sides. Let them cool. Slit them apart and remove the seeds and the stem. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat up some oil and toss in the onions and let them fry for 5 minutes at a medium-low heat. Toss in the chilis and the corn and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the salt and pepper.

Add the epazote and the broth and water. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Pull the sprigs of epazote out. Don't worry too much if a few leaves fall off. That's part of the flavor.

With a hand-blender, blend the soup as fine as possible. You have two choices at this point. Strain the soup for an elegant product or leave it rustic.

The soup should take on a rust color because of the chili peppers.

Back in the pot, bring the mixture to a boil and add the diced zucchini and cook for about 8 minutes till they are cooked through.

Serve with the lime, the crumbled queso fresco and sprinkles of the crushed ancho chili.

Indian-Style Chinese Corn Soup

If you are not aware of the concept of "Indian-Chinese" food, you are in for a small shock and a treat to follow.

Chinese immigrants migrated from the Hakka region to Calcutta in the 19th-century when it was the de-facto economic capital of India under the British Raj. The laborers were the dark underbelly of the opium trade. Like all immigrants, the path to not being bonded laborers was to open food eateries. (It's the same today right now in modern-day New York!)

They brought with them their techniques but rapidly discovered that neither pork ("Muslim") nor beef ("Hindu") was going to work in the new situation. Additionally, the population wanted a different set of spices than what the immigrants were used to. However, adaptability is the name of the game as you might guess from the entirely analogous fact that there's no such Cantonese dish as "Chop-Suey" — it's a Chinese-American idea catering to vague Chinese ideas about American tastes in the 19th century from whence it spread nation-wide and thence world-wide.

And in the same vein, "Indian-Chinese" fusion cuisine was born.

It was a blockbuster hit from day one because the one fact about human nature that never changes is that we crave novelty.

Money makes the world go round so when the economic capital of India moved from Calcutta to Mumbai, the immigrants and the dishes followed. Now they are ubiquitous all over India.

This is a classic corn soup.

Corn is not Chinese, of course. Nor Indian. It's New World. Its global nature originates from the Spanish conquest of the New World after which it made its way to Europe and eventually along the Silk Road to most of Asia. There are multiple layers of fusion hooked up in this single dish.

It's emphatically not a high-falutin' dish. It's pretty low-brow.

The CC has wondered for the longest time how they got the tangy flavor in the vegetarian versions that they make?  How was it that you could get a superior version in any crap town in India than what he was making at home?

It took a while but it finally struck like the biggest "DUH!" of all times.

"Of course! They are using MSG."

We can now add Japanese 20th-century science to the fusion. Just to recap, we are now talking about Pan-American corn, Spanish conquest, Chinese immigrants and adaptation, Indian flavors and techniques, and Japanese food technology in a single dish.

It's umami that is making all the difference. So by substituting the MSG with the functionally-equivalent dashi, we have a winner with the exact same taste. BINGO!

Why does the recipe work in the first place? What makes it successful?

It's corn soup that's nutritious with a "hit-me-again" umami taste that's off the charts. You can add any protein to it. It's cheap, easy to make, and easy to sell. It reheats well. You can make it ahead of time. It's basically street food is what it is. The only thing stopping it from being street food is the fact that it's a soup — too hard to serve on the street.

So as the CC unambiguously pointed out above, it's low-brow but he means that in the best non-pejorative sense of the word. This dish is simply awesome.

There are a few standard variants — you can add shredded chicken or shredded crab or prawns; and/or a beaten egg.

If you have never had this, you are totally missing out.


Ingredients

Paste

1/2" ginger
3 cloves garlic
4 green chillies
2 scallions (both white and green parts)

1 can "cream-style" corn
1 cup fresh corn (frozen is fine)

5-6 cups dashi

1 cup carrots (diced fine)
1 cup green beans (cut into very thin rounds)

1 tbsp. corn starch
6 tbsp. ice water

salt
white pepper

To Serve

1 scallion (diced into fine rounds)

cilantro (finely chopped)

3 green chillies (diced into fine rounds)
1/2 cup vinegar

soy sauce

Recipe

The recipe is straightforward. It's the side servings that require a little explanation.

There are four conventional ones — soy sauce, finely diced cilantro and scallions are self-explanatory. The last is the super-spicy chillies plonked in a neutral vinegar (rice vinegar works!)

You can add as much of each as you like including the fact that you can just add the vinegar minus the chillies.

First prepare the paste. Just use a food processor to grind the ginger, garlic, green chillies, and scallions together.

Heat up some oil. Fry the paste languidly for about 6 minutes. Add the carrots and beans and let it fry for 3 minutes. Add the creamed corn and the dashi. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil. You can skim off the fat if you like. Let it cook for 10 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, add the corn starch to the ice water and let it mix. It will not "dissolve". You are making a suspension. Whip well and add to the mixture.

Serve with the fixin's!

Sopa verde de elote (Green Corn Soup)

This is an insanely brilliant dish made of innumerous "green" components and it's the ideal thing to be eating in the depths of this bone-chilling winter that we are having here in New York.

This recipe is quite easy but do follow the instructions scrupulously. The tastes do not quite come together until the end so you will need to have some faith.

The source is Diana Kennedy whose research is fastidious and the recipes correspondingly mind-blowingly delicious.

The idea is "green, green, green". There are five green components in the recipe and they are all necessary to get the taste right. The corn is the supporting player because, well, corn and Mexico, right? Originator of the product and all that.

The real stars are the greens.

Ingredient

4 large tomatillos (or 10-12 small ones)

1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

4 cups corn kernels (frozen is fine)
2/3 cup green peas (frozen is fine)
6-8 sprigs cilantro
2 poblano chillies (prepped, read below)
3 large romaine lettuce leaves

5 cups chicken broth

butter
salt

fried tortilla strips

Recipe

Remove the papery skin of the tomatillos and cook the fruit in water till they are soft. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, prep the poblano's. Roast them directly over an open flame till they are scorched. Put them in a paper bag or just wrap in aluminum foil for 10 minutes. When they are soft, remove the blackened skin. Do not wash them. Dip your hand in water if you need to and rub off the skin. When skinned, cut open and remove the seeds and the veins from inside and chop into large pieces. Don't worry too much. They will get puréed.

Turn the tomatillos into a sauce in the blender and set aside in a bowl.

Put the corn, green peas, cilantro, poblano peppers, lettuce leaves, and 2 cups of broth into the blender and blend to a fine mixture. Pass this mixture through a medium food mill and set aside in a separate bowl.

Heat up the butter in a large pot. Add the onions and garlic and let it fry for at least 5 minutes. Add the tomatillo sauce and let it cook until the raw smell disappears. This step is crucial.

Add the second blended broth with salt to taste and let it cook for 5-6 minutes. This mixture has a tendency to stick to the bottom so make sure you keep scraping. Add the rest of the broth and let it cook for at least 20 minutes.

Serve with the fried tortilla strips on top.

Ginataang Hipon

This is a superb Filipino dish. The CC has already written about it before.

Like all cuisines, it lives and dies upon the excellence of its ingredients.


Ingredients

2 fresh bamboo shoots
1/2 lb long beans (chopped into 2" segments)
1 cup corn
1/4 cup chilli leaves

2 cups coconut milk
2 tbsp patis

16 fresh shrimp (peeled)

Notes about ingredients

You can find fresh bamboo shoots and long beans at any Chinese grocery store. You can find the chilli leaves at a Filipino store or you can just pick your own if you have a chilli plant.

Patis is Filipino-style fish sauce. Use the Thai nahm pla as a substitute but be warned that they are similar but not the same. (The CC can effortlessly tell the difference in a recipe!) If all fails, bung in a crushed salted anchovy because that's what the fish sauce is actually doing.

Use frozen corn if it's not summer. These days coconut milk comes from a can. The CC would rather you make your own but do what you have to.

Fresh shrimp is non-negotiable.

Recipe

NOTE: You don't need salt in this recipe because of the patis. Just taste it and add some if needed.

The bamboo shoots must be sliced really thin using a mandoline.

Combine the shoots, long beans, corn and coconut milk and heat gently for about 10-12 minutes. Be careful because if you boil the coconut milk it will curdle.

Add the shrimp and chilli leaves and cook for just under a minute.

Serve with rice.

Polenta

Let's get the obvious out of the way first.

Polenta is delicious but it's a pain to make. Thankfully, it's not difficult, it just requires a Zen attitude where you do nothing but stir. Patiently. (Bring a book and learn how to read it with the other hand!)

The discovery of the New World is what made corn popular in Europe. It transformed ancient food patterns into new ones with the discovery of a "cheaper" cereal.

Polenta is finely ground corn meal that is cooked slowly with water, salt and spices. It needs to be stirred frequently to prevent it from sticking, and this is boring. Also, towards the tail end it has a tendency to splatter so one must be careful.

Traditionally, it was made in a copper kettle that was hung over the fire with the kettle being whirled while the housewife walked back and forth doing her chores. The "mush" was poured out from the spigot and nobody asked too many questions.

Today alas, we have to stir it manually in an open pot over the stove. At least the non-stick coatings make this a relatively straightforward job!

There are multiple ways to enjoy it afterwards.

One is as a wet mush which is served as an accompaniment to meats, gravies, etc.

Another is to cook it and then pour it into a dish (and sometimes baked) where it will solidify into a "cake" which you can then cut up and serve with meats, gravies, etc.

Third is to take the solidified version and fry it again in olive oil or butter and some herbs to amp up the flavor. If you mentally thought that this is how you reheat it in older times in the absence of a microwave, give yourself a gold star.

The CC frequently makes it with dashi instead of plain water to give it a bit of an umami oomph.

Like all dishes that have multiple incarnations, preferences abound. The CC's is for the solider version.

Weekday Ramen

Official Status

In a historic vote, aligned with another historic bill, the New York Senate has voted "sweet corn" as the official vegetable of the State.

Which is ironic since corn is a grain not a vegetable. If it were a vegetable then we should probably debate whether Medicare vouchers, and "pulling the cord" apply to it.

(No corn (or corny) jokes please, we're skittish.)

It's probably a good thing that they didn't have to debate over the official "fruit" (which already has been deemed to be "apple") since that would've been just way too weird!

Corn Risotto with Crab Balls

This will appear to be a difficult recipe. However, if the CC can make it on a weekday, so can you.

It's called prep and advance planning. Also, if you read the recipe carefully, you will see that there are fairly obvious "synergies" between the three sections. If you use your time wisely, and this is a skill, you will see that this is a fairly simple recipe.

The herbs are fairly interchangeable. You will get great results with basil, rosemary, sage, or thyme. Tarragon can be a little overpowering so should be used with a spare hand. Combinations also work.

After the recipe below, the CC presents the underlying logic -- why is this dish the way it is? (Hopefully, this section will turn into a regular trend.)

This level of analysis which explains the harmony of flavors, aesthetics, nutrition and palate feel is absolutely necessary if you want to get to the "next level" in cooking.


Ingredients

Corn Broth

6 cobs corn (shucked, keep the cobs)
1 large red onion
sage

Crab Balls

1/2 cup crabmeat
1/2 carrot (grated - read below what to with the remaining half carrot)
1 red serrano (yes! it must be red)
2 eggs
breadcrumbs
sage (chopped very fine)

Corn Risotto

4 leeks (chopped fine, white parts only)
2 cups arborio rice (or carnaroli or vialone nano.)
1/2 carrot (grated)
1 cup parmigiano reggiano
1 cup chopped wild greens with a bitter edge (mizuna, arugula, etc.)
1 cup white wine
sage (chopped very fine)
black pepper

olive oil

Recipe

Prepare the corn broth. This step can be done ahead of time.

Sweat the onions in olive oil. Add the cobs, half of the corn kernels and the sage. Fry languidly for 5-7 minutes. Cover with water, and bring to a boil. Skim the impurities, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the cobs, blend the mixture, and pass through a fine sieve. (Yes, this is a lot of work. Deal with it!)

Combine the crabmeat, very finely chopped serrano, grated carrot, two eggs, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. The mixture should be loose but fashionable into balls. Create small balls out of them. Pan fry them in a skillet with a layer of olive oil, and drain on paper towels.

Now, we prepare a standard risotto. Keep the corn broth on a simmer.

Fry the leeks languidly (4-6 minutes.) Add the rice, and fry till the kernels of the rice are visible. Add the white wine and stir. Add ladles of the broth, and stir. Repeat.

Two-thirds of the way in, add the grated carrot. Towards the end, add the greens and the rest of the corn kernels.

Add the grated parmigianio-reggiano and the sage.

Plate.

Recipe Logic

The basic idea started as a corn risotto.

The CC had some corn soup in his kitchen, and it made sense to turn it into a broth, and make the risotto. However, this would've been too mundane - monochromatic if you will - corn flavor would, of course, be amazing but there is nothing to make the dish either visually interesting or amazing on the second bite. For that, we need contrast. Also, there is not enough protein in the dish.

Hence, the need for a topping. Mushrooms were considered but the season for chanterelles is long past. Seared scallops would've been a complete winner. That would be one direction to go into but it was a bit of a cliché. Plus, the texture would be soft on soft. Not a recipe for a knockout.

So the CC went in the direction of a different cliché -- corn and crab -- a classic in many cuisines -- French, American, Vietnamese. From the seared scallops, the CC went with crab cakes but they are mundane so the CC punched it up with a slight sweetness and color (carrot) and spice (serrano). You get a textural contrast as a free bonus -- the soft, wet risotto punched up by a crisp crab ball.

Now, to make the color act as tie-in to the balls as well as a visual punchline, a slight bit of grated carrot would work in the risotto but it would make the dish too sweet (with the corn, corn broth, etc.) so the CC added a base note of bitter greens which also add a dash of green color.

The herbs tie it all together. By making them identical across the board, the dish has a coherent feel.

Please note that the dish has both the aesthetics and nutritional complexity of the very Japanese washoku.

Summer Corn Chowder

Recipe: Corn Chowder.

This has a ton of basil instead of parsley, and is best served cold.

Chilli Corn Toast

Well, the CC's been getting a cornucopia (sic) of freshly-picked corn courtesy of a late summer blast.

The CC decided to turn it into an old childhood favorite that his mom probably picked up from some magazine. It's a perfect dish for hors d'oeuvres or along with a salad and a glass of wine, a light dinner.

Guaranteed to please children of all ages!

Ingredients

4 ears corn (shucked)
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp corn flour
butter
6-8 Thai green chillies
salt
black pepper

bread (for the toast)

Recipe

The idea is to make a béchamel using the corn flour instead of regular flour. Add the chillies and the corn. Let it cook. Crush the corn lightly.

Toast some bread lightly; spread the mixture over it, and pop in the oven at 375°F for 20 mins or so.

Mushroom Ravioli in Corn Sauce

A year ago, the CC ate a corn agnolotti in a corn reduction at a fancy restaurant at the height of summer. The dish simply blew him away. The sauce had a silky-smooth mouth feel, and the essence of the concentrated corn flavor sang the song of summer.

Clearly, this was a recipe worth emulating!

So this summer, the CC finally got his hands on some excellent just-picked-that-morning corn (we've had a late summer here!) Naturally, reproducing the recipe was on the cards.

Well, the CC wasn't going to attempt the corn agnolotti. One may experiment but one should have a full understanding of one's own limitations. So the mushroom ravioli came from Raffetto's.

Oh, and how did the reproduction go?

Well, gentle reader, if it had gone badly, the CC would hardly have blogged about it, would he?

It's like the rules of a slasher movie where the heroine must be in danger, or a WWII movie with fighter planes going down in flames. There is just no escaping the conventions of the genre.

Corn Sauce

Ingredients

8 ears corn
1 large red onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (chopped coarsely)
8 sprigs thyme

corn flour
sea salt
black pepper (lots!)

basil

Recipe

The recipe has multiple stages but they are pretty easy.

Shuck the corn kernels but reserve the corn stalks. Split them into two or three pieces each.

Fry the onions and garlic at medium low heat. When they are sufficiently limp but not colored, add the corn stalks and fry. Add 2/3-rds of the corn kernels, salt, lots and lots of black pepper, the thyme. Add about 6 cups of water.

Bring to a boil. Simmer at low heat for 25-30 minutes. Fish out the thyme (it's easier if you tie the thyme in a bundle using kitchen twine.)

Blend the mixture. Pass through a fine sieve (this is the hardest part but it's totally necessary to get that silky mouth feel.)

Bring the mixture to a low boil. Add the rest of the corn kernels. Reduce for about 10 minutes. Towards the end, whisk in some corn flour to get a smooth unctuous sauce.

Toss in the basil right before serving.

Haitian Meal

The CC had been hankering for a Haitian meal and he received a ton of the right veggies courtesy of a friend's CSA so he decided to go all out and prepare a Haitian meal.

He had some vegetarian friends over for dinner so the beef was substituted by tempeh (the only reasonable thing that can stand up to a long marinade, and long cooking times without falling apart.)

Corn Fritters with Pikliz
Rice & Beans
Tempeh in Creole Sauce
(Source: Fine Haitian Cuisine by Mona Cassion Ménager.)

Beef in Creole Sauce

Ingredients

2 pounds beef (rump pot roast, sirloin tip or any beef cut suitable for braising)
1 bitter orange, or 2 lemons + 1 orange
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 habanero chile
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of ground cloves
1 tbsp chopped chives
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white onion shavings
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf pasley
1 sprig of thyme
5 garlic cloves, peeled, and crushed
1 tbsp tomato paste diluted in 1 cup boiled water
4 cups boiled water
1 sliced white onion (for sauce)
1 sliced bell pepper (for sauce)

Recipe

Trim excess fat from beef. Cut meat crosswise into six fairly equal pieces. Rub meat with bitter orange. Rinse quickly with very hot water. Drain carefully. Put meat in a bowl and coat with orange juice, vinegar, chile, black pepper, cloves, chives, salt, onion, parsley, and thyme. Cover with plastic wrap, and marinate in a cool place for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the refrigerator or overnight.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy lidded 5-quart pan over high setting. Reserving marinade, add meat, and saute until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add marinade, reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until juice thickens, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a 3-quart heavy pan over medium high setting. Add garlic and sautee for 1 minute. Add diluted tomato paste and boil uncovered until all liquid evaporates, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add 3 cups of boiled water to tomato paste, mix well, and pour it over meat. Cover and cook until all liquid evaporates, about 45 minutes. The sauce should be thick. Remove meat and chile from the sauce. Season sauce with additional salt and pepper if desired. Add 1 cup of boiled water to the sauce, and stir in. Add meat and reserved chile. Reduce, uncovered, over medium heat until sauce thickens, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add onion and bell pepper slices during the last minute. Discard chile. Serve hot.

Rice and Beans

Ingredients

1/2 cup red kidney beans (soaked)
1/4 heaped tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tbsp minced chives
1/2 cup white onion (finely diced)
1/2 cup shallots (finely diced)
1 habanero chile
1/4 cup red bell pepper (diced)
2 bouillon cubes
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
3 cups bean cooking liquid (read below)
2-3 sprigs thyme
1 sprig parsley
2 cups long-grain rice

Recipe

Wash the beans, and bring to boil with 8 cups of water. Cover, and cook over medium heat with the lid ajar until the beans are cooked through, 45 minutes to 1 hour. The beans should hold their shape. Drain but reserve the cooking liquid.

Heat 2 tsp oil in a heavy pan, over medium heat. Add the beans and sauté until the beans are crispy about 7 minutes. Add black pepper and the cloves at the last minute. Set aside.

Heat 2 tsp oil in the same pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté till slightly golden. Add the onion, shallots, chile, chives and diced red bell pepper and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add the rice and fry to coat with the oil. Add the bouillon cubes, cayenne pepper, thyme, salt and parsley along with the 3 cups of cooking liquid and the reserved beans.

Cook till the rice is done. (You may need to add additional cooking liquid or water.)

Mushroom Barley Risotto with Late Summer Vegetables

Summer Corn Chowder

Ran into some terrific corn in Chinatown on the trip back from Boston, and decided to make a light evening meal of it.

Here's the recipe.

Summer Corn Chowder

Corn chowder (recipe link)

Salsa : Corn with chipotles en adobo

The CC has forgotten where he came across this recipe but it is so simple that it should appeal to both your senses, and your love of having good food without too much bother.

No matter what quantity the CC makes of this one, it always disappears! Always!

The CC once doubled up thinking he could get some for later but no! it was gone by the end of the evening.

Ingredients

8 cups corn (frozen is fine, just thaw it.)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1 can chipotles en adobo

Recipe

Heat the oven to 350F. Spread the corn in a flat tray, and let it dry out for 30 minutes or so. It needs to be fairly dry but watch carefully since the stuff burns easily.

Reconstitue the sun-dried tomatoes in hot water. Dice them into very fine pieces.

Toss the corn, the sun-dried tomatoes, some of the water from the tomatoes, and diced chipotles en adobo with some of the adobo sauce to taste.

Corn Salsa

So the CC is invited to the birthday party of some friends, and was charged with making a bunch of salsas for the occasion.

Over the years, this corn salsa (yes, I'm using the term loosely) has been one of the biggest hits at the CC's parties.

Truth be told, the CC doesn't even remember where he got this recipe.

Ingredients

8-10 cobs of fresh corn (or 2 packages frozen)
6 sun-dried tomatoes (reconstituted with hot water, and then diced)
2-3 chipotles en adobo (diced)

Recipe

Place the corn on a baking sheet, and roast it in the oven at 300F for roughly an hour. Check towards the end, otherwise the corn might get burnt.

Mix the three things together, and add a bit of the sun-dried tomato water.

That's it! The simplicity belies the brilliance of flavors. Only problem? The dried corn sticks to your teeth. Heheheheh.

Corn Chowder

After a short work week, the CC had a hankering for some corn chowder. But it's too hot here in New York to have a heavy meal.

What follows below is not a "true" chowder (no bacon or cream), but it's so unbelievably good that the CC rushed to blog it.

Ingredients

4 leeks (diced coarsely)
12 corn cobs (shucked, kernels removed -- keep 3 cobs, cut in half)
2 yellow bell peppers (diced)
1 potato (diced)
1 bunch parsley
broth (or water)
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Recipe

Fry the leeks until they are soft. Add in the caraway seeds, celery seeds, and black pepper, and fry for 30 seconds or so. Toss in the bell peppers and the potato, and fry for 2 minutes or so. Add the corn cobs, and 4/5th of the corn kernels, and the broth.

Bring to a boil. Skim. Turn down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend the entire mixture with the parsley in a blender. Add it back to the pot, throw in the rest of the corn, and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread.