This is a variation of a soup we frequently used at Chez Shea for our tasting menu. It was a buttermilk corn bisque without the cheddar that focused on the flavor of the corn in season. It was a very good soup, but I wanted to give this a richer body and a stronger flavor. If you wanted you could omit the cheddar, add some heavy cream and you would have a replica of our tasting menu soup.
The bacon fat that I use can easily be substituted for butter, but I had it on hand when I made the bacon cherry pepper relish. You could make this vegetarian very easily by changing the garnish and not incorporating the bacon fat. The purpose of the roux is to incorporate the cheddar so that it won't break while held or reheating. Once again the bacon fat is used instead of butter but that can be changed as well.
Additionally the cheddar cheese crackers are just a store bought purchase that gives the soup a little bit of a crunchy texture, enjoy.
Ingredients
Bacon Fat 1/4 cup
Crushed Red Pepper 1 tsp
Onion, diced 1 ea
Corn, shucked 10 ea
Garlic, minced 3 ea
Salt and Pepper to taste
Buttermilk 1 qt
Chicken Stock 2 qt
Red pepper, diced 1 ea
Coriander, ground 1 tsp
Cumin, ground 1 tsp
Bay Leaves 4 ea
Pickled Jalapenos, diced 4 slices
Cheddar, grated 12 oz
Milk 1 cup
Flour 1/4 cup
Garnish
Bacon Cherry Pepper Relish, Cheddar Crackers, Herbs
Method of Procedure
Using a mandolin remove the kernels from the cobs. Using the flat edge of your knife run it along the cob to remove the rest of the corn still on the cob. Reserve the cobs for later.
Using 1 T of your bacon fat saute your onion, pickled jalapeño, crushed red pepper, garlic, red pepper, and corn for about 20 minutes while stirring until softened.
Add your buttermilk, chicken stock, and corn cobs to the mixture. Season with cumin, coriander, salt & pepper, and bay leaves and then simmer for about 1 hour.
In a separate pot put the rest of your bacon fat and flour and bring to heat to make a light roux. Stir while cooking on low heat for about 10 minutes.
Add your milk to the roux and continue to cook while stirring to incorporate your flour into the milk.
Add your grated cheddar continue to cook on low heat until thickened by the roux.
Remove the cobs from your main pot, and pour the cheese sauce into your main pot.
Bring it to a simmer and continue to cook for an additional hour on low heat, stirring occasionally, to make sure everything is incorporated.
If you have a blender run the soup through the blender and strain through a medium grade strainer to remove the corn pieces that don't get blended. (If you don't have a blender, you can cook the soup longer, and run it through a food processor. You will want to cook the soup a little longer to help soften it).
Season to taste and serve with a garnish of bacon cherry pepper relish, some herbs, and cheddar sticks.
Comments