Spicy Roasted Corn Chowder

Fresh corn is in season and I love eating boiled corn on the cob, but here's another way to use fresh corn in a delicious, spicy chowder that'll make your house smell amazing!

I was inspired by this recipe but made a few changes.
Here's what you need:

6 cobs of corn, still in their husks
2.5 cartons chicken stock
A mixture of poblano, jalapeño and Hungarian or bell peppers
6 slices bacon
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
2 ribs celery
1 lb potatoes
3 Tbsp tequila
1 cup half and half (or milk or cream)
1 lime
crumbled feta or cotija cheese 

First, roast the corn.  Place the cobs on a baking sheet and stick them in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes. Roasting them in the husks gives them great flavour.

While the corn is roasting, roast some peppers.  I used these peppers from my garden. The yellow ones are mild Hungarian peppers.  The long green ones - I'm not sure what they are.  Maybe Anaheim? They're pretty spicy though.  I also used two jalapeños.  This turned out a little spicy for me so you might want to substitute some bell peppers for the hot ones if you don't like it too spicy. 

I'd also recommend putting some foil down on the pan under the peppers because they tend to leak as they roast.

Once the corn is roasted, carefully shuck it.  It'll be hot so let it sit for a few minutes or run it under cold water first.

Use the tip we talked about the other day to remove the corn from the cobs, but don't discard the cobs!

Put the cobs and half the corn in a pot.

Cover with chicken stock.  Bring it to a boil and simmer for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile take your roasted peppers and place them in a bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap.  This'll generate steam to help the charred pepper skins peel off.

Peel and chop the peppers, removing the seeds.  I used gloves.

While the corn stock is simmering, you can also chop your onion, celery, garlic and potatoes.

And dice the bacon.

In another large pot, brown the bacon.

Once browned, remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Remove all but 1 Tbsp of the bacon grease from the pot and add in the onions and potatoes.

Sauté for about 5 minutes, then add celery, peppers and garlic and sauté 3 more minutes...

...until softened.  Add the tequila to the veggies.  

Once the corn stock has simmered for 40 minutes, remove the cobs and purée the stock until smooth.  

And add it to the vegetables in the other pot.  Simmer for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened, then add a cup of cream and the remaining corn kernels.  Bring back to a simmer and get ready to serve!

Fill your bowl with chowder and top with the crumbled bacon and cheese.

Serve with fresh bread.

This turned out pretty spicy. I would use fewer or different peppers next time, but it was extremely tasty.  And I love the corn cooking technique. I'll use it next time we have corn on the cob for dinner.

Putting up with: Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde is made from tomatillos which are not easy to find in my neck of the woods.  It's not that they can't grow here, it's just that they're not a common, well known ingredient.  So when I found tomatillos for sale by the bushel at the market, I had to pick some up.  We got a large basket of tomatillos that cost $5 and made two batches of salsa verde for canning. 

When canning, you have to follow the recipe pretty closely in order to stay safe.  The recipe has to have the correct balance of acid to preserve properly without going bad. I combined two recipes from my canning book Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving.  

Here's the equipment you'll need first:

12 x 250mL canning jars with rings
12 x new snap lids for jars
boiling water canner
canning tongs/jar lifter
wide mouth funnel

You can buy all this in a kit or separately.  

Canning isn't too difficult, but it is time consuming.  You need to boil a huge amount of water (about 20L) which really heats up the kitchen. We luckily picked a nice, cool day and took advantage of the breeze.  

For the salsa verde you need:

• 5.5 cups chopped tomatillos
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 chop hot peppers, chopped (I used jalapeños, poblanos and green chilis)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 cup white vinegar

The tomatillos have a papery skin that's generally loose but can be stuck tightly to the fruit. 

It needs to be removed from each tomatillo.  

The skin leaves a sticky film that needs to be washed off.  I just rinsed them in the sink.

Chop the peeled and cleaned tomatillos into quarters.

Their texture is not really like tomatoes, it's more solid.

Finely chop the onion. I used a food processor but it doesn't need to be this fine.

Mince the garlic and cilantro.  I also did this together in the food processor.

Add all the ingredients to a large pot, including the lime juice, vinegar, salt and cumin.

Boil the mixture for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. 

You can leave it chunky, but I like to purée it with an immersion blender.

While the salsa is cooking, bring the jars to a simmer in the canner.

And heat snap lids in hot (not boiling) water.

When the salsa is ready, fill the hot jars with hot salsa using the canning funnel.

Fill the jars to within 1/2 an inch of the top.

Use a non metalic utensil to remove any air bubbles from the jar.  I used a wooden skewer.  Continue filling jars and wiping rims clean.

Place the snap lid on top of the filled jar.

Then add the screw ring and just tighten until you feel a slight resistance.  

Carefully dd the jars to the canner.

Once all the jars are added, cover the canner and bring to a boil.  

Boil for 15 minutes, then carefully remove jars from canner.

Let the jars rest, undisturbed for 24 hours.  You should hear the "pop" of the lids sealing within the first hour of resting.

This salsa is great with chips or on fajitas or tacos.  You can also make green enchiladas, or a lovely topping for fish or chicken.  Enjoy!

Short & Sweet Sunday - Gremolata

Here's a quicky part 3 of my braised lamb and beans recipe.  This gremolata gets sprinkled over the lamb and stirred into the beans to add a lovely, fresh, bright flavour. 

Gremolata is a condiment made of lemon, parsley and garlic. No oil at all!  It really brightens things up, especially braised meats and veggies that have a rich flavour but lack that fresh punch at the end.

All you do is throw a handful of parsley and 3 cloves of garlic in a food processor along with the zest of one lemon.  Pulse until combined. 

This gremolata gets mixed into the beans and sprinkled over the braised lamb to give the whole meal extra flavour.  Here's the full recipe again.  Enjoy!