Crema de Elote ( Corn Soup) & Jalapeno poppers

Soup recipe from
Rick Bayless: Authentic Mexican
Regional cooking from the heart of Mexico

Yield: About 1 quart, 4 servings
21/2 to 3 cups fresh or defrosted corn kernels
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
11/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups milk, plus a little more if needed
2 fresh chiles poblanos, roasted , peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 cup thick cream or whipping cream
About 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup crumbled mexican queso fresco or feta
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish

1. Prepare corn kernels if using fresh else defrost frozen corn and place in Blender
2. Saute Onion in 2 tbsp buttter until translucent and minced garlic, cook until garlic is done.
3. Add the onions garlic and corn starch to Blender along with the corn. Puree finely. Donot add water
4. Heat two tbsp butter in pan and add the puree. Stir until the mixture is thickened, a couple of minutes.
5. Add the two cups of milk and simmer covered for fifteen minutes.
6.Strain the mixture, remove the fibres of the corn and return the resulting smooth and silky puree to the stove. Add the cream, poblanos, salt and simmer for another ten minutes. Adjust thickness to liking
7. Garnish with cheese, parsley and serve in warm soup bowls.

Cooks Notes: I totally forgot to add the cornstarch and did not miss it in the soup at all. American corn is very sweet and to those who donot like sweet soups, well -beware. I left in some seeds of the poblano for a slight kick and for added measure , seasoned the soup with both black and white pepper. Also added some roasted red pepper, finely diced. Also added some mexican oregano to soup before straining for added flavor.

Jalapeno Popper recipe
Cooks notes: The jalapenos had a beautiful crust, but the pepper stayed raw during the frying. Next time I will slightly steam the peppers before hand.

Roasted Tomato Soup

The best tomato soup ever!!

8 of the best tomatoes you can find
1 onion - red/white
3 cloves garlic
couple sprigs rosemary
1/2 cup 1% milk
olive oil
salt pepper

Cut up the tomatoes and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil, garlic chunks. Roast in oven at 375 for about forty minutes.Puree with the milk.
Serve with fresh pepper.

Chestnut & Onion Soup

from
Is my blog burning

Broccoli Soup

For Broccoli Haters( yes with a capital H :)) this soup will come as a very pleasant surprise. It is easy to make and has a nutty and deep flavor with none of the nasty texture of the vegetable.

Makes one bowl, Increase proportionately

1 Cup Broccoli Florets
1 pod garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
Grated cheese to garnish
Heavy Cream ( optional)

I usually use the frozen broccoli florets i buy at the supermarket for this soup. It is really important in that case to not defrost the florets in the microwave but put them in a heavy saucepan with a pinch of salt on the stovetop at a low temperature. Also keep the saucepan covered. For some reason defrosting the florets in the microwave entirely ruins the texture of the final product and makes it very fibrous instead of smooth.

I cook the florets until just about thawed. It is important to avoid adding water to the saucepan. Make a nice puree with the thawed florets in the blender.

In another sauce pan on the stove i quickly grate the pod of garlic into some olive oil, wait until the olive oil is infused with the garlic , add the puree . Give the whole thing a single boil. Salt and season to taste.

Serve with a garnish of cheese and some garlic bread. Other infusions could be chives or some basil.

Mirepoix and Soup!

Fall is tiptoeing in behind Ernesto. Days are bright but lightly tinged with that hint of chill in the air. No kidding folks, the first of the Soups have been sighted. Soups are shy creatures , who venture out to provide warmth when the Big chill threatens to start. Notoriously difficult to photograph, they have been known to hide their bright flavors and warmth in photographs which look like muddied waters.

:) :)

Ive begun with a few classics, but I donot have photographs of the finals. I gave up - they come out as indistinct muddy juices.

The first is
Mirepoix, A classic French Stock:
Equal parts of celery, onion and carrots to be boiled with aromatics - mint, basil , oregano. Pick your choice.

Mushroom and Onion Soup:
Take three large onions, slice finely. Take a soup pot with a thick bottom , saute the onions in plenty of butter on very low heat until the onions brown to a nice golden color. Donont burn / blacken the onions. Add sliced mushrooms ( white button / portabella ). Saute for another 2 minutes. Add stock, bring to a boil. At this stage salt and season with black pepper to taste. This is a "thin" soup.

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup:
Take the same combination of carrots, celery and onions as in the stock . Take a generous helping of olive oil in the soup pot, add these vegetables. In addition add sliced mushrooms. Saute until vegetables are nicely roasted and soft. Add stock , bring to a boil. Add aromatics, I used mint this time. Add a tbsp or so of tomato paste. At this point you could add either boiled pasta of your choice or boiled barley. Season with salt and black pepper to taste -Voila, soup is ready!! It is really amazing how flavorful this soup is. Roasting and adding the same vegetables really highlights the basic flavors of this soup.

Chinese sweet corn soup:
Saute sweet corn, chopped green chillies to taste and fresh green onion in sesame oil. In another pot bring about two cloves of garlic and an inch of ginger, both finely chopped or grated to boil in a pot of stock. Once the water has boiled, filter the stock out into the pot with the corn and green onion. Thicken with about a tbsp of corn flour. Season with salt.

Enjoy!

VegetableSoups

1. Herb and Garlic Broth(Aigo Bouido)
Big head of garlic
6 sage leaves
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
2 parsley branches
sea salt & Pepper
Olive oil

Put 5 cups water in a soup pot over a high heat. Separate the garlic cloves, peel them and add them along with the herbs and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil and cook, covered for 20 minutes, then strain into a clean pot or simply remove the herbs leaving the pearly garlic cloves if you wish. Season and add Olive oil. You can now enjoy this as a broth or use it as the base for a soup.



2. Rustic lentil soup with spinach
11/2 cups lentils
Olive Oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
1 red bell pepper - roasted peeled chopped
2 tbsp parsley
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp mustard paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 bay leaf
water
Stock
Hefty bunch of spinach chiffonade
Chopped mint or parlsey for garnish
red wine vinegar to taste

Warm the oil in soup pot. Add onion, carrod, red pepper and parsley. Cook over medium heat , stirring now and then, until the onion is softened and starting to color. Add the garlic, then stir in the tomato paste and mustard, working both into the vegetables and cooking until theres a film on the bottom of the pot. Pour in the wine, scrape up the pan juices, then simmer until partially reduced after a few minutes. Drain the lentils and add them to the pot with the bay leaf and water, using the larger amount if the lentils were soaked only briefly. Bring to a boil, then reduce the ehat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes. Add salt and cook until lentils are soft. Add spinach chiffonade and serve.

3. Lentils with pounded walnuts and cream

2 cups lentils , soaked
2 - 4 tbsp butter
1 onion finely diced
1 bay leaf
water
salt & pepper

for walnuts:
1 plump garlic clove
1/3 cup walnuts lightly toasted
1/2 cup cream
parsley

Drain the lentils, melt butter in pot, add onion and bay leaf and cook over medium high heat for 5 min. Add lentils and cook until soft. Pount garlic in a mortar with pinch salt, add walnuts and start working them into a paste. Add cream a tsp or so at a time, which will make it easier to break down the nuts. Serve soup in soup plates and add walnut cream, parsley and pepper.

4. Cream of barley soup

1/3 cup barley
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 large or 3 medium onions diced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 large leek
1 large carrot
1 large garlic clove
sea salt
1 cup sour cream

to finish:
1/3 cup barley
1 leek white part julienned
2 tbsp butter
mushrooms thinly sliced for garnish

Cover the soup barley with water and soak. Heat olive oil and butter in soup pot until foaming. Add onion and oregano, give a stir and cook for 5 min. Then add the leek , carrot and garlic. Cook for 10 min more until glaze forms on bottom of pot. Drain barley and add it into the pot along with 6 cups water. Cook until soft and puree the soup with sour cream until smooth. Return soup to the pot , taste for salt and season with pepper.

Rinse the remaining barley and cook until tender. Simmer the leek in salt water until tender, drain and toss in a little butter. Saute mushrooms in butter. Serve barley soup with the added barley grains, mushroom and leek.

5. Avocado soup with herbs, slivered radishes and pistachios

2 cups low fat buttermilk
1 cup yoghurt
1 large avocado
1 cucumber
1 large garlic clove
sea salt and fresh pepper
3 slender scallions, white parts and a little green finely minced
2 tbsps chopped dill
1 tbsp snipped chives
1 tbsp minced marjoram or oregano
1 tbsp minced tarragon
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 chile
zest and juice of one lime
bit sweetner

to finish: finely sliced chives and chive blossoms
thinly slivered radishes
dill, mint and cilantro sprigs
1/2 cup shelled pistachios

Puree the buttermilk, yoghurt, avocado and a quarter of the peeled cucumber in a blender until smooth, then pour it into a bowl. Mash the garlic with 1/2 txp salt and stir it into the puree along with the scallions, herbs, chile and lime zest. Season to taste with salt, pepper, lime juice and sweetner if needed. Seed and finely dice remaining cucumber and add to soup. Cover and chill.
Finish with chives, radishes, herbs and pistachios