Corn chowder - Supa-crema de porumb

My vacation is over. Hopefully, i am now rested and ready to go back to work. Spending time with Clara was really needed before school starts again and since my last vacation was over 8 months ago, a break from work was long over due.

We went back to Oceanside, for a week at the beach and tanning, doing nothing and being as lazy as possible. And that's exactly how this past week has passed. I am still not ready to face my desk tomorrow in spite of all the rest and laziness, but what can you do? I wish i was a kid again, i promise i would be so happy of going back to school and not complain about the vacation being gone so fast, but i don't think this helps me feel less miserable. On the other side, clara is so excited to meet her new teacher and her new coleagues, so at least one of us is doing better.

We have been eating out a couple of times, but except for the icecream desert, we were so dissapointed by all the food we had. It's either that the people we've asked did not know good places, or maybe we weren't lucky, but nothing stood out. We have tried an American diner, a Mexican seafood restaurant and one of the fish & chips places in the harbor, all pretty bad. The food from the dinner was blaah, the seafood was overcooked, we ended up asking for more quesadillas being still very hungry, and the fish & chips were so greasy.... The rest of the times i fixed something quick for lunch, dinner, and for the first time a whole week of breakfasts. We went to the farmers' market on Thursday and picked up some beautiful heirloom tomatoes, yellow wax beans, blueberries and strawberries. We made blueberries and mango pancakes and enjoyed our breakfast out on the balcony each morning, right on the beach.

Before we left, i made a corn chowder, but i didn't have the time to post anything. I have been waiting for along time to make this soup but i was waiting for corn to be in season to be very sweet and milky. I looked for a recipe for a long time, and i found a couple that i liked, so i decided to combine them and then made some other changes, so now it is a completely different recipe. I liked how creamy and tasty it came out, and i am sure when some crab or lobster is added to the list of ingredients, it's even better, but i made it without any seafood so clara could eat some too. I've read recently about using the corn cobs to make the stock, so i kept them and boiled them, it was a marvelous idea.

Corn chowder

8 corn on the cob - cut the corn off from 7 cobs, and keep the cobs to make the stock. The 8th cob will be grilled and the kernels used for garnish)

1/2 white onion diced

1 celery stalk diced

1 carrot finely grated

1 fennel bulb diced

250 ml heavy cream

400 ml chicken stock

salt & pepper to taste

smoked paprika

garnishes: 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro and 4 slices bacon, cut in small pieces

Shave the corn from seven of the cobs and reserve the kernels for later. Place the cobs in a pot with enough water to cover them, add a little bit of salt and boil them covered for about 20-30 minutes. This water will be used for the soup. Take the cobs out of the water and scrape down any bits of corn left on them and add this to the shaved kernel.

Saute the onion, celery, fennel and carrot together, until all softened. Add the shaved reserved kernels and saute for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken stock, salt and pepper and 450 ml from the water in which the cobs were boiled and let it simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, grill the last cob (the 8th one), then cut off the kernels and reserve them for garnish.

Add the cream to the soup and let it come back to a simmer, then remove from heat.

Puree half of the soup in a blender, until creamy, then mix it with the rest of the soup that was not blended. If you prefer a creamier soup, puree the second batch as well.

Serve the soup hot, garnished with cilantro, bacon bits, grilled kernels and sprinkle a litle bit of smoked paprika.

You could add seafood to this soup. If you want, you could use the seafood to make the stock, boiling it for a couple of minutes with the cobs, then take it out of the water, remove the shells and reserve thw meat to be added to the soup after it was taken away from the heat. And for garnish you could use some chopped scallions and shredded cheese.

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Supa - crema de porumb

8 stiuleti de porumb (se taie boabele de porumb de pe 7 stiuleti si se pastreaza stiuletii pentru zeama de supa. Al optulea se pune la gratar, sau intr-o tigaie fara grasime, si boabele se folosesc pentru garnisit)
1/2 ceapa alba tocata marunt
1 tija de telina verde tocata marunt
1 morcov dat pe razatoarea mica
1 radacina fenicul (anason) tocata marunt
250 ml smantana dulce
400 ml zeama de supa de pui
sare si piper dupa gust
boia afumata

Pentru garnisit trebuie cateva linguri de coriandru proaspat tocat marunt si cateva felii de bacon prajit si taiat bucatele.

Se taie boabele de porumb de pe sapte stiuleti si se pun intr-un bol, iar stiuletii se pun la fiert intr-o oala, cu apa cat sa-i acopere si putina sare, si se fierb acoperiti cca 20-30 minute. Apa aceasta va fi folosita pentru supa. Se scot stiuletii de porumb din apa si cu lingura se "rad" si ultimele bucatele ramase si se adauga la restul de boabe de porumb.
Se soteaza ceapa, telina, feniculul si morcovul impreuna, timp de vreo 10 minute, pana sunt foarte moi. Se adauga boabele de porumb si se mai calesc cateva minute, apoi se toarna peste zeama de supa, sare si piper si 450 ml din apa in care au fiert stiuletii de porumb, si se lasa sa fiarba la foc mic aproape o jumatate de ora. Intre timp, se pune la gratar ultimul stiulete, apoi se taie boabele si se pastreaza pentru garnisit.
Se adauga smantana dulce la supa si se lasa pana ajunge iarasi la punctul de fierbere, apoi se da la o parte de pe foc.
Jumatate din supa se pune in blender si se face crema, apoi se amesteca cu restul de supa. Daca va place o supa mai cremoasa, se poate pune in blender toata supa, pe rand.Se serveste fierbinte, garnisita cu bucatele de bacon, coriandru proaspat, porumbul la gratar si putina boia afumata.