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Corn is a bit of a sore subject for me. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and when corn was in season we would have it every day, often twice a day. I can’t point to a single moment when it happened but after I moved out of my parents house I stopped eating corn. I didn’t make a big deal about it but I would never order anything that contained those crunchy kernels in restaurants.
So, I tell myself that I don’t like corn but I still make and enjoy this recipe. When I first set out to make it I intended it to be like a classic chowder with lots of cream. However, I didn’t want to make a roux so I mulled over ways to thicken it without resorting to flour. Thickening it with both cashews and pureed onions is, in my estimation, a far superior method for two reasons. One, there is very little nutrition that flour offers. With onions you get fiber and a very powerful antioxidant called quercetin. Cashews offer protein and copper. Two, the flavor is boosted by both ingredients, particularly the onions. They enhance the level of umami in the chowder, which balances the sweetness of the corn.
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 Yogurt in soup was a revelation to me. Normally dairy based soups are rich, comforting and occasionally bordering on stodgy. When milk is fermented into yogurt, lactic acid is produced, which lightens and lifts. The oyster mushroom is a wonderful, umami laden accent, both as a garnish and mixed into the body of the soup.
I have a recent obsession with Persian cookbooks and cuisine which has roughly translated to a few changes in my recipes: an increase in saffron, more fenugreek, more yogurt and adding massive amounts of herbs. This recipe is a reflection of the latter two. Depending on how “green” of a flavor you want, consider adding the herbs right before serving or before the yogurt so that they will be muted.  This week was the last hurrah for asparagus at the Sunday farmer’s market. It’s always a bittersweet moment. It means that, well, I won’t be enjoying asparagus until the following year. BUT it also signals the end of spring and the start of summer. Stone fruit and tomatoes are right around the corner.
I wanted this final bunch of asparagus to get a light treatment so that its flavor would really come through. The broth is spritely, despite the inclusion of such heavy hitting ingredients like onion, garlic, Parmesan and lemon. A perfect base for the vegetal freshness of the asparagus. I think that my favorite part of this dish is that ladling the aromatic broth over the raw asparagus will cook it to perfection. It becomes bright green but doesn’t lose its crisp and crunchy texture.
Who doesn’t love romanesco, the beautiful fractaled member of the cruciferous family? It looks like a mishmash of the landscape of another planet and a one of those neon posters from the 60s. It’s challenging to make chartreuse appealing but romanesco does it with ease.
This is a simple, soothing soup that can be made anytime of the year but I particularly like it in the spring. It’s light, nourishing and invigorates rather than weighing you down. Despite being impossible creamy there is no dairy or starchy vegetables in the recipe.  Sometimes leeks get overlooked because they are more labor intensive than onions or shallots but I think that the flavor they bring is worth it. They have a more muted "oniony" taste and bring both sweetness and a fresh greeness.
Leek and potato soup is a classic. I’ve had versions that were a bit too plain for my tastes so I have enlivened it by using two tangy ingredients: white wine and crème fraîche. Both of these additions cut through the heaviness of the potato and elevate the natural sweetness of the leeks. By roasting 1 of the leeks we add a deeper and richer element that grounds and rounds out the entire soup. Consider serving with a thick slice of either rye or sourdough bread and a generously sized salad. |
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