Heidi has a new friend and his name is Kelly Fletcher.  Kelly is the Executive Chef at one of my favorite spots in town–“House of Tricks“.  We met formally (or rather, very informally) when I hosted the ‘Challenge to the Chefs’ at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival last April.  While soup wasn’t on the menu that day, he prepared a recipe especially for us and the “Biblical Proportion Dust Storm” that rampaged through Phoenix last week.  

Grilled Corn Vichyssoise with Habub Corn Dust and Ancho Powder

Ingredients:

  • 5 ears of summer corn (shucked and silked)
  • 3 leeks julienned (white part only, washed thuroghly)
  • 2 med. yellow onion julienned
  • 2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
  • 8 cloves minced garlic cloves
  • 2 T. sherry vinegar
  • 1/2 lb unsalted butter
  1. Grill the ears of corn until a few of the kernels have taken color on every side of the cob. Remove from the grill and allow to cool to the touch.
  2. With a serrated knife remove the kernels from the cobs and place the cobs in a med. stock pot and add water to cover the cobs by a few inches, bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer over low heat for 20~30 minutes. Reserve kernels for later..  Meanwhile in a seperate pot melt 4 oz. of butter over medium heat and add the onions, leeks, garlic and corn kernels and sweat for 4-5 minutes or until the onions are transluscent.
  3. To this pot you can now add your potatoes and prepared corn stock from the previous pot, discarding the cobs, they won’t be needed any longer. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce to a medium heat and simmer until the potatoes are easily pierced with a knife.
  4. When your potatoes are ready use a slotted spoon to place about 1/3 of the soup solids into a blender and add enough of the soup liquid to cover then add 4 oz. of cold butter, place the lid on and tightly hold in place while you buzz the soup to the desired consistency. Pour the soup into a large bowl and the continue this process until you have blended all of the solids and the soup is the consistency you want. Fold the sherry vinegar in and add salt and white pepper to taste.. place the bowl into the fridge and chill over night. Adjust the thickness with a touch of milk the next day if the soup is to thick.
  5. Prepare your favorite cornbread recipe and allow it to cool all day so that you can crumble it into a fine powder.. use this to garnish your chilled vichyssoise with a touch of ancho chili powder and snipped chive.

 

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