End of Summer Corn Soup with the Works

If you can't tell, I'm reveling in corn these days. There's just nothing like fresh corn in August, when it's at the height of its season and sweet and perfect. Like the best summer heirloom tomatoes, there is something about late summer corn that just let's you taste the season, you know? It's like a last burst of summer before we feel the turn into fall. 

But in case I was getting any ideas about living in real seasons, the last few weeks have reminded me that summer is for the rest of the country, and here in SF we get highs in the 60's with apocalyptically foggy evenings and all the wind. I've been running in long sleeves and I've given up on my hair, since my morning walk to work takes place under a cloud of precipitation somewhere between heavy mist and light rain, what my college roommate used to call "spitting."

All that cool air and dampness can make it hard to really enjoy late August corn the way I otherwise might want to, grilled or steamed on the cob and enjoyed outside next to a barbecue, or served raw and cold (which I did anyway because if I shut the windows to my apartment it at least looks warm outside around mid-day).  

So, I turned to the more weather-appropriate medium of hot soup! I kept the flavors clean and simple to let the sweet corn shine through, and garnished it with a pile of cool, pickled, grilled and fresh toppings to keep the vibe feeling summery. You could of course leave off the garnishes or only use a few, but the complete set really gives it the heft of a meal and the flavors together are something wonderful.  If you don't live in SF but you happen to get an unseasonably cold or rainy late summer day, I think this is the perfect dinner for that (unless you have strong feelings about whether soup is even a meal, in which case I can't help you there).

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End of Summer Corn Soup

For the garnishes:

• 1 jalapeno
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup sour cream or mexican crema
• 1 lime
• 1/3 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and tender stems
• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more if grilling corn
• a few chives, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper
• 1 radish, thinly sliced
• cotija cheese, crumbled
• 1 ear corn

For the soup:

• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 6 ears corn
• 3 tbs butter
• leek
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lime
• salt and pepper

1. Make your garnishes, if using: for the pickled jalapeños, in a small pot, heat vinegar and sugar to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Place jalapeño slices in a heat proof bowl and pour vinegar mixture over. Let sit until ready to use.
2. Make the lime crema: zest and juice the lime and add to the sour cream. Stir to combine and set aside.
3. Make the cilantro oil: In a blender, combine olive oil, cilantro, chives, and 1 clove garlic. Transfer into a small bowl and season with salt and pepper (strain if desired, I didn't find it necessary). Set aside.
4. If making grilled corn garnish: Heat a grill pan or grill, and brush the corn cob with a little olive oil. Grill on high heat until just charred on all sides. Let cool a bit and then cut off the kernels into a bowl. Set aside.
5. To make the soup: Heat stock in a large pot until boiling, then reduce to a simmer. While heating, cut kernels off cobs and set aside in a bowl. Place all cobs (the 6 plus the one you grilled, if using) in the pot and simmer, covered, for at least 20 minutes.
6. In a large skillet, heat the 3 tbs butter over medium heat and add the leeks. Saute until translucent about 5 minutes, then add the corn kernels and saute 5-6 minutes more. Add the chili powder and clove of garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat.
7. Remove the cobs from the stock pot and place on a cutting board or plate to cool. Add the sautéed leek and corn mixture to the stock and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes.
8. When the cobs are cool, scrape down the sides with a knife to get every last bit of corn juice and kernels. I’d recommend doing this step into a bowl. Add whatever you get from this step into the pot, and simmer another couple of minutes ( I got almost nothing extra from this step so I'd say its optional, but if you have especially juicy corn it could work).
9. Remove pot from the heat, and using an immersion blender, puree the soup until completely smooth (you can also do this step in a regular blender, in batches if necessary). If it seems a little thick you can thin out with water or extra stock. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Stir in the juice of remaining lime.
10. To serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with lime crema, cilantro oil, pickled jalapeños, radish slices, cotija cheese, and grilled corn kernels (if using).

Raw Corn & Avocado Salad

I've read that to be a good blogger you shouldn't wing it, that you must have a production schedule. This has proven to be especially true for Tea and Fog because I have to juggle both the schedule of posting and the schedule of actually cooking recipes, sometimes recipe testing multiple times until I get it right. As someone with a full time job that is not food blogging, I have to treat my production calendar as a bible if I want to keep to a two posts per week schedule (that no one is holding me to but I.can't.stop.). These days that means looking three months ahead to make sure I have a plan for every post, or cooking way too many recipes on a weekend in preparation for a few weeks of work travel. 

But sometimes, it's still nice to be a little spontaneous! As I type this on a keyboard sticky from this past Saturday's rigidly planned cooking marathon, I'm feeling a little proud that this particular recipe wasn't planned in advance, that I basically just threw some ingredients together the other night, took a bite, and then did whatever the eating equivalent is of a double take. Because without any thought other than, "Hmm, this sounds like it might be good together," I cobbled together a non-recipe that is one of the best things I've tasted in a while. 

Is this a salad? Or is it a salsa? Or is it maybe a sort of guacamole? I don't really know, because I suppose you could eat it as any of those things, but I ate it with a spoon, so I'm going to call it a salad. 

However it's called, it's definitely good, with sweet, crisp raw corn kernels and chunks of avocado tossed with lime zest, lime juice, and a bit of cotija cheese, then finished with some fresh chives and a hit sea salt and black pepper. You will not find a simpler side dish for these last weeks of summer, when corn is abundant and perfect enough to eat as is, no cooking required. 

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Raw Corn & Avocado Salad

• 2 ears of corn, shucked
• 2 avocados, cut in half and pitted
• 1 lime
• a small bit of cotija cheese
• a handful of fresh chives
• sea salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Cut the kernels off of the corn and transfer to a bowl. Spoon out the flesh of each avocado and cut into chunks, then add to the bowl with the corn.
2. Zest and juice the lime and add to the corn and avocado, then crumble in the cheese into the mixture.
3. Mince the chives and add to the bowl, then season with salt and pepper and toss. Adjust seasoning as needed and serve.

Zucchini Butter

Hi! Are you drowning in zucchini at the moment? Are you tired of zucchini bread and zoodles or whatever other methods you've tried to deplete your stash? 

I, not being a member of a CSA, am blessedly free to only invite as much zucchini into my kitchen as I want, but if you answered yes to any of the above, may I suggest this zucchini butter? It's the perfect solution, an easy way to reduce your zucchini overload by at least a pound, or more if you double the batch. And you might want to double it, because this stuff is damn good. It's creamy, buttery, sweet, fresh, and so zucchinilicious, you'll be piling it on toast and crackers and eggs and pizza and everything else that calls for a hit of green. 

And did I mention that it's also easy? Because it couldn't be simpler to make, you just shred some zucchini, drain it, then slowly cook it with some shallot and olive oil until it slightly caramelizes and softens into a spreadable butter.  

And do you remember that fried toast from last week? You're gonna want to make some, because this zucchini butter on that toast is a match made in summertime heaven.

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Zucchini Butter

Adapted from The Kitchn

• 1 lb zucchini
• 1 1/2 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper

1. Grate the zucchini and generously sprinkle with salt. Set in a strainer above a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes with a small bowl of water set on top to weigh press the zucchini.
2. Remove bowl of water and turn out zucchini onto a paper towel or cheesecloth. Squeeze to remove as much water as possible.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the shallots. Saute until soft, then add in the garlic and cook for about one minute more, until garlic is fragrant.
4. Add the zucchini and stir in with the shallots and garlic. Lower heat to medium and cook until zucchini is very soft and jam-like and slightly caramelized, about 20-25 minutes. Taste for seasoning as you go and add as needed. Zucchini butter can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.