Chilled Sweet Corn Soup with Bacon

When the thermometer finally hit the mid-80s in Chicago, I decided it would be the perfect time to make a chilled summer soup. Sweet corn is one of my favorite foods, and with it in season from July through October I decided to make that the star of my show. As I’m continuing to strive to cook healthier at home, I scoured the web for a recipe that didn’t have extra added cream and just a small amount of fat and found this sweet corn soup! To really bring out the sweet corn taste, I decided to boil my sheared corn cobs in water to create a stock instead of just adding plain water to the recipe. This really created an extra layer of flavor and helped bring out the natural richness of the corn.

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

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Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 6 cups corn kernels (from 6 ears)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 sprigs thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Toppings:

• 3 strips of bacon
• 1 oz of goat cheese
• Basil oil (you can buy flavored olive oil or make your own)

Directions:

1. Cut corn kernels off  of the corn cob
2. Add sheared corn cobs and thyme to 6 cups of water, boil covered for 15-20 minutes until water has infused with corn and thyme flavor, using a fine mesh strainer, strain corn liquid (should have reduced to about 5 cups)
3. Heat butter and oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add corn; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until corn is softened and beginning to brown, 6–8 minutes.
4. Add 5 cups water to pot. Bring corn mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until corn is very soft, 6–8 minutes longer
5. Working in batches, purée corn mixture in a blender until smooth (or use an immersion blender in the pot). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing on solids; discard solids.
6. Transfer soup to a large bowl, cover, and chill until cold, at least 2 hours.
7. Top soup with crumbled bacon, goat cheese, and basil oil

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