Fresh Corn and Poblano Cream Soup

Wow.  So, I’ve been given the incredible privilege of being the new Food Editor at Wives of Faith.  Today I put up a recipe for Fresh Corn and Poblano Cream Soup that everyone should try before the end of summer’s corn harvest.  Go check it out!

Fresh Corn and Poblano Cream Soup
Adapted from Real Simple, serves 4

1 T olive oil
1 poblano pepper, seeded & chopped
4 Tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
8 ears fresh sweet corn, shucked & cut corn off of the cob
3-4 cups chicken stock
4 Tablespoons heavy cream or half-&-half
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add poblano pepper and cook until tender and just browned around the edges.  Remove from soup pot to a blender.  Blend with about 2 T of chicken broth; set aside.  I actually waited until the soup came to a boil, took some from the pot and then blended this so the corn flavor was in there as well, but you can do it however you want.

In the same soup pot, still over medium heat, melt the butter.  Add onions and garlic and cook until tender and fragrant but not browned.  Add corn kernels to the onions and garlic; stir.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the chicken broth and bring to a slight boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the corn is slightly tender.

If you have an immersion blender, go ahead and blend about 1/2 of the soup in the pot.  If you have a stand-blender, transfer soup, 2 cups at a time to blender and pulse until slightly smooth.  Return the blended corn to the soup pot and repeat until you’ve blended approximately half to the soup.

To serve, ladle the soup into soup bowls, pour 1 tablespoon of heavy cream or half-and-half on top and then about a tablespoon of the poblano puree.  This is simply for show because I promise you’ll want to stir that poblano cream into the soup to have a little taste with every bite.

*To cut the corn from the cob: shuck the corn, stand it up on a non-slippery cutting board and cut the kernels off of the cob by running your knife from top to bottom, pressing up against the cob.  See here for a how-to picture.

**Recipe is Gluten Free**