A rave about food: This is not a cooking blog. And I am clearly not a food photographer. If it was and I were, this picture would look a lot more appetizing.

Garden Fresh Corn Soup

I don’t care. I sort of made up the recipe, it tastes delicious, and so I’m going to share.

Ingredients
Corn (obviously) — I used four ears I got from the local market, steamed when we had corn  on the cob the other day. You could probably use canned or frozen. If it’s fresh, cook it, cut it off the cob and sprinkle on some
Lime Juice — I’m sure fresh is best for this too, but I never have fresh so I used the kind in the bottle. If you like a lot of lime, use a lot. If you don’t, use less. If you hate lime, you could probably leave it out altogether.
Butter — The real stuff. Accept no substitutes. A couple of tablespoons to sauté your
Green Pepper — Medium, chopped
and your
Onion — Medium, also chopped. (These were from my CSA — see why I called this soup “Garden Fresh?”)
Chicken Stock/Broth — I used a carton (4 cups) because I didn’t have fresh.
Potatoes — Peeled and cubed. Mine were from my own plants (not that I’m bragging or anything).
Cumin — I used about 1 teaspoon because I like cumin. Adjust to your taste
Ground Cayenne Pepper — 1/2 teaspoon sounded good to me.
Jalapeño Pepper — one, chopped
Milk — About 3 tablespoons per bowl

May also add: cilantro, salt, lime zest, flour/milk mix if you like very thick soup, cream if you prefer it to milk

Sauté the onions and green peppers until tender. Meanwhile, mix corn and lime juice (and zest if you’re using fresh lime) in a medium-sized bowl. When onions and peppers are tender, add broth/stock, cumin, cayenne pepper and potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook until potatoes are tender enough to mash. Mash the potatoes. Add corn and jalapeño, and heat through.

If I wanted a thicker soup, this is when I would mix a couple tablespoons of flour and milk to form a paste, bring the soup to a boil again and gradually stir in flour/milk paste until the soup is thick enough to make me happy. Or I might cheat and stir in some instant mashed potatoes (definitely not fresh or from the garden, but it’s quick).

You could add the milk all at once, but I plan to freeze some of the soup, so I’ll just stir in 3 tablespoons of milk into each cup before serving. You can use cream if you’re feeling particularly decadent. And if you want a more elegant presentation, chop some cilantro and use it as a garnish.

I based this soup on a couple of recipes, most particularly a potato leek soup that we love. Here’s a link to that recipe: http://tinyurl.com/2sa9dd.

There’s just nothing better than a big cup of thick soup with crusty bread and butter on a cool fall evening. It almost makes me glad the weather’s getting cooler.

Almost. 🙂