Plate to Plate

I know, I know. It’s been a while. But, you see, the sun came out. And so I got a little distracted. Also, there was (and still is) a little secondary challenge, and that is that my new home is a dim, dark cave. Its poor little 1920s windows are low to the ground, it faces west, and the whole brick box of it sits at the bottom of a little valley next to the Hoosic. If I’m lucky, I can bask in a shaft of sunlight that manages to sneak into the guest room at about 1:25 PM every afternoon. Other than that, it’s sort of gloomy. Which, you might have guessed, isn’t the best situation for photography, especially when one tends to eschew the flash in favor of the ever-elusive natural light.

Dear reader, natural light continues to elude me. I’m trying my best to overcome flash phobia, but it’s slow-going. Any tips?

All that aside, I wanted to get this recipe out there before corn season came to a screeching halt. It’s applying the brakes here in New England — it’s only a matter of time before we’re all hunting around in the root cellar at our CSA, remembering fondly the days of fresh anything. But if you can still find it, grab a few ears of corn and cook up this somehow simultaneously light and hearty chowder, which is sweet with the taste of fresh corn and bright with herbs. I used day-old corn I got from a roadside stand — it’s cheaper, and you’ll never know the difference. And since the recipe involves a lot of prep work — it’s not complex, there’s just a lot of chopping — you might want to think about doubling it and freezing some for later. Or look at the prep work as your last chance to get close to the crisp, shiny rewards of summer.

All the while I was making this, I was muttering to myself the word chowder, which is a funny one, in my best New England accent. Chow-dah, I was saying to myself. Chow-dah, chow-dah, chow-dah. I couldn’t stop. The dog was looking at me funny. I imagined a thought bubble above his head that looked something like this: CHOWDAH = DINNER? This soon devolved into me shouting Chowdah-head!, first at the dog, and then to no one in particular, as I chopped and stirred and generally made my way through this recipe. What is the etymology of “chowder-head,” I wondered.

I still don’t know, but it’s a great word, isn’t it?

Sweet Corn Chowder with New Potatoes and Summer Herbs

Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

1 qt freshly-prepared* or store-bought stock, or water
1 large leek, white part plus an inch of the green, sliced into thin rounds
kernels from 6 ears corn
1 lb. new potatoes, peeled (if you like) and diced
2 branches green or opal basil, 8 leaves plucked and the stems reserved
2 tbs. plus 2 tsp. butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
4 thyme sprigs or 1/4 tsp. dried
salt and pepper
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cups milk or additional stock (skim milk won’t really cut it here)
Snipped chives

* If you’re making stock from scratch (which I encourage you to do), simply throw the trimmings from your prep work for this recipe into a pot (including the basil stems and corn cobs), along with some smashed garlic cloves, two bay leaves, a carrot, and a celery stalk, if you have them. Throw in just about any vegetable trimming you have — you really can’t go wrong here. If you are a recovering vegetarian or hippie, like me, and you have nutritional yeast around, throw a tablespoon of that in there, too. Cover with 2 quarts of cold water, bring to a boil, then simmer for a half hour or so. Strain before using.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large soup pot and add the onion, leek, bay leaf, and thyme. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until everything is soft and releasing a phenomenal aroma, 10 – 15 minutes. Add the potatoes, stock, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender. (Test them with a fork. It will be about 20 minutes.) While the soup is simmering, cook the peppers in a small pan over low heat with the rest of the butter and a splash of water.

Crush some of the potatoes with a spoon, masher, or immersion blender, then add the corn and milk. (If you’re feeling adventurous, substitute in just a bit of cream for a bit of milk.) Simmer until the soup is just heated through and the corn is tender, about 5 minutes.

Thinly slice the basil leaves. Add the peppers and their cooking liquids to the soup, then stir in some of the basil and chives. Top each bowl with more basil and chives.

Serves 4 to 6 and is even better the next day.