Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913

Winter in the Fall

Last week was not conducive to finishing my garden-clearing plans. Translation: the carrots are still in the ground. Or should I say, still in the mud? A couple more inches of heavy, wet snow fell early in the week. It has since melted, slowly, leaving the yard soggy and garden muddy. The low temperature we saw was 16 degrees, which shattered the record low for that date. It's not a new record we wanted. Again, I'll say that it is much too early in the fall to be having winter-weather temperatures.

That last snow was led by freezing rain. The trees hadn't lost their leaves yet. The rain rapidly turned to heavy ice, causing the demise of one huge tree limb near the garden, as well as numerous smaller branches. Another huge limb was saved from breaking off by the top railing of our front deck, which gave it some much needed support. This event prompted us to do some planned tree pruning to prevent future breakage. (I'd been procrastinating about that chore.) Mostly we trimmed the huge tree out front that overhangs our mailbox.

I had been planning to make this recipe with the last of my corn, but somehow (possibly procrastination?) never got around to it. Again, it's a recipe torn from a magazine. I'll still make it, but using my frozen corn, with some modifications. I've shared the frozen corn recipe before, but will again. That one is from Aunt Helen, on my mother-in-law's side of the family. It's a wonderful recipe, well worth sharing once more.

Chilled Corn Soup with Crispy Corn & Panko Topper:

1 Tbl unsalted butter

1 C chopped white onion

1 clove garlic, minced

5 C fresh corn kernels (cut from 10 ears, cobs halved and reserved), divided

4 C reduced sodium chicken broth

1 (7 oz) carton plain whole milk Greek yogurt

1 Tbl olive oil

1/4 C panko

1/4 C crumbled feta

1 Tbl fresh dill, chopped

1 tsp lemon zest

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat, saute onion and garlic, 3-4 minutes. Add 4 cups corn and cook an additional minute. Add reserved cobs and the broth. Bring to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, 25 minutes.

Remove from heat. Cool 20 minutes. Discard cobs. Blend until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing solids. Discard solids. Stir in 1/2 tsp salt. Cool, covered, at least 4 hours. Whisk yogurt into soup until smooth.

For topper: in large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add remaining 1 C corn and the panko. Cook 2-3 minutes or until browned. Top soup with the corn/panko mix, feta, dill, and zest. Serves 4.

Of course, using frozen corn means I won't be cooking corn cobs in the soup. I also don't plan to chill my soup, so I'll whisk in yogurt to each individual serving. The dill will be dried, so that amount will be reduced to a teaspoon. I won't bother straining it through a fine-mesh sieve, either. You can use purchased panko, but I prefer making my own. I let heels of my homemade wheat bread dry out, then pulverize them in a bread bag, using a rolling pin. I store the crumbs in an air-tight container. I might add some chopped ham to the soup, and/or top with crumbled bacon.

Now the recipe for frozen corn follows. If you package the corn in vacuum-sealed bags, it keeps well for over a year. The key is getting the air out of the package. The corn is creamy, so getting the bag sealed before the liquid gets in the way can be tricky, but it can be done. I haven't tried using freezer ziploc bags, but I'm sure they'd work, they just might not store so long as well.

Frozen Corn with Butter (Aunt Helen):

Cut corn from cobs (20 C). Put in a large roaster with a pound of real butter. Add a pint of half & half. Put in 325 degree oven for one hour. Stir occasionally. Remove from oven. Chill. Package and freeze quickly.

To serve: heat corn through. Add salt and pepper as desired.

I find it helps clean up tremendously if you spray the roaster with no-stick spray first. You don't need to melt the butter first, but be sure to use real butter. I don't use salt-free. I stir this mixture every 15 minutes. I put 2 C in a package. I flatten them so they stack well. You can whack the package against the edge of a counter to use half the package now and put the other half back in the freezer for use later. (It would be too easy to just put the corn in 1-cup packages,wouldn't it?)

 

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