Smoked Corn Chowder

I'm sorry. Renovations have eaten my life. I've learned more about hydraulic cement, masonry, and drainage than I ever cared to know. More on that later.

Today, I wanted to share an awesome recipe that makes use of the bountiful amount of corn available this time of year. The best way to make this recipe is to smoke the corn on the grill before you make the soup. But if you don't want to go through the trouble, you can just cook the corn with the soup. It's really good with regular corn, but smoking the corn puts this soup in my top 3 favorite soups.

This is a thick, hearty chowder. Meaning it's thickened with flour and cream. If you want to lighten it up you could sub half and half or milk for the cream and use a more waist-friendly thickener like arrowroot. It doesn't take too long to make, freezes and reheats really well, and basically tastes like grilled summer in a bowl. 

If you decide to grill the corn. Shuck the corn so that only 1 layer of husk remains to protect the kernels from blackening too much. Then soak the corn in the sink for a few minutes before putting them on the grill. I like to put them on the cooler outer edge of the grill, so they take longer to cook and absorb more of the smoky flavor. For the wood chips, we've used hickory and mesquite successfully, but anything would probably be good.

There are lots of ways to test whether the corn is done. Being a visual person, I judge by color. Corn turns a slightly more golden version of it's original color when it's cooked. The husk should also be pretty brown and wilted and charred around the edge if you cook them low and slow.  I prefer a couple of blackened spots to half raw corn.

Since I am enormous klutz, I stink at cutting corn off the cob. When I try, it ends badly. I curse like a sailor and corn ends up on the ceiling. I usually call in my husband to do the dirty work and he claims all it takes is a very sharp a knife and a stable cutting surface. 

There's really not too many ingredients to this recipe either: a few pantry staples, corn, onion, potato, and fresh thyme and you're ready to go.

 

Smoked Corn Chowder

Slightly adapted from this recipe by Tyler Florence via foodnetwork.com

Serves 6-8

Cooking Time: Approx. 55 minutes (excluding smoking the corn)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup flour
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced
• 6 ears corn, smoked on the grill
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• chopped fresh parsley leaves, for garnish

Directions

1. Ahead of time, smoke the corn as described above or just use raw ears. Using a sharp knife cut off the whole kernels and set kernels aside.

2. In a large pot, melt the butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add the onions and thyme and saute about 5 to 10 minutes until the onions are softened.

3. Add the garlic and saute 1 more minute.

4. Add the flour and stir to combine.

5. Add the vegetable stock, cream, and potatoes and bring to a hard boil. Boil for 7 minutes. (This step helps break down the potatoes so they'll give the soup a good texture.)

6.  Reduce the heat to a simmer. At this point, you can fish out the sprigs of thyme with a pair of tongs. The boiling will have removed most of the leaves and you can scrape off any leaves still clinging to the stem into the soup.

7. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the corn kernels. Simmer for 10-12 minutes if using raw corn and a few minutes less if using smoked.

8. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley.

 

Corn & Cheddar Pancakes

I made 2 versions of these pancakes. In the first version I followed Closet Cooking's recipe to the letter and while they were certainly good, they were not my cup of tea. They had a flavor similar to corn tortillas and the cornmeal made them a bit gritty. I should warn you, I'm picky about corn products. I love fresh corn, but detest most canned versions (bleck-added sugar, weird creaminess). I like grits, but only if they're the real kind (boo instant grits!). And I have only met a few good corn tortillas in my time. However, if you're all over the corn tortilla thing, you should definitely try the original version.

In the second version, I cut out the cornmeal all together and I sub powdered buttermilk for the milk for a more traditional pancake flavor. I did miss the more vivid corn flavor so I think next time I might try just 2-4 tablespoons of cornmeal (instead of the 1/2 cup originally called for). The best change I made was to the cheese. The original has you add 1/2 a cup shredded and as a result the cheese just kind of melts in and only makes a slight impact. But, if you cut the cheese into small cubes you get gooey little pockets of cheese in your pancakes that are soooo good. If the cheese touches the skillet you get crispy parts similar to the edge of a quesadilla. Nom!

A pancake's best friends: corn and white cheddar.

These can be eaten sweet or savory. They're good with butter and maple syrup or with salsa and sour cream.  If you're using a salty cheese I would skip the salt in the recipe all together. I should also warn you that I had a near fail because my batter was too thick. You want a consistency like melted ice cream, not like mousse. The first couple I made were overdone on the outside, gummy on the inside, and way too dense. Add a little liquid and thin the batter if necessary.

Bad! Batter that is way too thick!

Good! Batter with the right consistency.

Almost ready to flip. See the little air bubbles in the bottom left of the pancake. As they get bigger and more numerous you'll know it's time to flip. You can sorta test the solidness of the cake with the edge of your spatula to make sure. I cooked mine at 4 (one setting below medium on my stove) in a cast iron pan and they took 2 minutes on the first side and 1 on the other. Make sure to respray with cooking spray between batches. You can keep the done ones warm in a 250 degree oven.

Mmmm. Leaning tower of pancakes.

Corn  & Cheddar Pancakes
makes approx. 6-8 6" pancakes (the ones in my pics are smaller)
(adapted from Closet Cooking's Recipe)


Ingredients

1 1/4 cups flour or sub cornmeal for some of the flour up to 1/2 cup (I think 2-4 tablespoons would be the sweet spot for me)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (skip this if you're using a saltier cheese)
1 cup milk or buttermilk
2 eggs
kernels from one ear corn (approx. 3/4 cup-I nuked the corn in a bowl with a little water to make it easier to get the kernels off)
2-3 ounces cheddar cheese, cut in small chunks

Directions

1. Mix all the dry ingredients except the corn and cheddar in one bowl. Beat the eggs together with the milk in another bowl. Stir the wet into the dry until just combined. Check the consistency of the batter and add more liquid to thin if necessary.

2. Stir in the corn and cheddar and let the batter rest for 5 minutes or so. While the batter is resting heat a skillet to medium heat.

3. Once the skillet is hot, spray with cooking spray and spoon 1/4 cupfuls of batter into skillet (or less if you want smaller cakes). Cook approx. 2-3 minutes, flip and cook 1-2 minutes more. Respray skillet before spooning in a new batch. Keep pancakes warm in a 250 degree oven if necessary.