I had a delicious corn chowder at Cafe Deluxe in DC one afternoon and then went on a research expedition to find the perfect corn soup. Twenty cookbooks and several online sites later and I found Creamy Corn Soup with Red Bell Pepper on Epicurious. It is from Bon Appetit's March 2001 issue and is a recipe from the Double Rainbow II in Albuquerque. I made it for Easter last year and it was extremely popular. I have made it several times since and we never tire of it.
The beauty of it is the corn does not have to be in season -- you use cream-style corn and frozen corn. In fact, I think it would be a waste of fresh, in-season corn to use in this soup. I've got a salmon chowder recipe that just cries out for fresh corn. But that is another blog. You could even make your own cream-style corn, but that seems like a waste of time. Just use the cans and have delicious soup in about a half hour. Add more or less canned chipotle chilies depending on your tolerance of spice. Me, I like lots.
Now on to the recipe. Makes 4 main-course or 6 first-course servings
2 TBSP butter or olive oil
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups (or more) water
2 TBSP chopped, canned chipotle chilies
2 14 3/4 oz. cans cream-style corn
1 16-oz. package frozen corn
1 c. whipping cream (or milk)
1 tsp. dried oregano
Melt butter (or heat olive oil) in heavy, large pot over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic; saute until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices to pot; cook 2 minutes. Combine 2 cups water and chipotle chilies in blender and puree. Mix puree and cream-style corn into pot. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add frozen corn, cream and oregano; simmer 5 minutes.
YUM.
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