By CHEF KARP for the Flathead Beacon
Perfect for summertime get togethers and family style dinners, here’s a refreshing and tasty chilled soup that presents well with striking colorful garnishments.
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients for Soup:
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 leeks (white part only, cut in half, cleaned and sliced thin)
12 cups corn kernels (from 20 ears of corn)
Sea salt and white pepper to taste
3 tsp. Montana Honey
8 cups corn stock (recipe below)
2 leaves of fresh sage
3 limes, for juicing
To make your own corn stock, boil the stripped ears of corn in a large pot with carrots, onion, celery, a few sage leaves and garlic. Simmer for 30 minutes, then strain and discard solids, retaining stock.
In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the shallots, leeks and garlic, and stir often for five minutes. Add the corn kernels, season with salt and pepper and stir for an additional few minutes. Add the honey and corn broth and bring to a simmer, then add the sage leaves. Simmer for four minutes, being careful not to overcook the soup.
Separate liquids from solids and transfer the solids to a blender. Add a little bit of broth as needed until the soup has the consistency of a thin chowder, and process until smooth (careful not to make it too thin). Pass the soup through a fine sieve. Season with lime juice, cover and refrigerate.
Garnish for Soup:
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup zucchini, skin on, finely diced
Sea salt and white pepper to taste
18 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 radishes, sliced thin
Dry sea weed, julienned
Just before serving, prepare the garnish. In a small sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the zucchini and corn. Sauté for two minutes and season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, season the tomatoes and radishes with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with corn, zucchini, radishes, tomatoes and seaweed.
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Chef Karp is an instructor at The Culinary Institute of Montana at Flathead Valley Community College. For more information, visit www.culinaryinstituteofmt.com.