Rainy Day Soup

Yesterday for dinner I made enchiladas with homemade enchilada sauce.  If you're interested in that recipe, and I suggest you try it, it's here.  Today turned out to be rainy and gross and I really was in the mood for soup.  We still had 4 enchiladas left over, so I wanted something that would go well with that.  I pulled down my gigantic The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking and found a recipe for corn soup (the original is at the end of this blog).   Not having the total amount of corn that I needed, I looked further and found a recipe for avocado soup...what's below is some sort of bizarre combination with some other things thrown in.  It isn't as pretty as I'd like, but it tastes great!

1.  Start by chopping 2 red bell peppers, sprinkling them with salt and 1 tbsp oil, and roasting them at 475 for 15 minutes.

2.  While the peppers are roasting, finely chop 1 onion and 2 cloves garlic.  Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pot over medium heat, and add the onions and garlic.  Saute for 10 minutes.
3.  Add 1 1/2 cups thawed corn (I used frozen and just microwaved it for 2 minutes first) and about 1/2 cup of roasted green chilis or a 4 oz can of canned green chilis.  Add 1 avocado, chopped. Saute this for a few minutes.  When the peppers are done, add those and mix together.

4.  In small batches, add the soup ingredients to your food processor.  You'll need to use 3 cups of chicken broth TOTAL.  I added 1 cup into the soup mix in the saucepan, then used 2 others while blending everything in the food processor.  Process the soup until smooth (or mostly smooth).  I left a little bit unprocessed just for texture.  Pour everything back in the soup pan. 

5.  Add 2/3 cup 2% milk or light cream.  Add salt and pepper and let everything come back to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.  Grate 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese and stir in until melted. 

Garnish with sour cream and hot sauce.  Like I said, it may not be the prettiest, but it sure is good!

Original Corn Soup Recipe
Milton, Jane.  "Corn Soup" The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking.  London: Hermes House, 2000. 

2 red peppers
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3-4 cups corn niblets, thawed if frozen
3 cups chicken stock
2/3 cup light cream
salt and ground black pepper

1. Dry-fry the peppers in a griddle over medium heaet, turning them frequently until the skins are blistered all over.  Place them in a strong plastic bag and tie the top to keep the steam in.  Set aside for 20 minutes, then remove the peppers from the bag and peel off the skin.
2.  Cut the peppers in half and scoop out the seeds and cores. Set one aside.  Cut the other into 1/2 inch dice.
3.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and saute over low heat for about 10 minutes, until it is translucent and soft. . Stir in the diced pepper and corn and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
4.  Spoon the contents of the pan into a food processor, pour in the chicken stock and process until almost smooth.  This processing can be done in batches if necessary.
5.  Return the soup to the pan and reheat it.  Stir in the cream, with salt and pepper to taste.  Core, seed and cut the reserved pepper into thin strips and add half of these to the pan.  Serve the soup in heated bowls, garnished with the remaining pepper strips.

*Cook's Tip: Look for roasted red peppers in jars.  These come ready-skinned and are useful in all sorts of recipes.  Used here, they make a quick soup even speedier.