It seems nothing short of impossible that today is the 21st of August.
The fall equinox is a month and two days (September 23 this year) away. Jake said it was 41 early yesterday morning on the upper Yellowstone River below Gardiner.
We have compadres already out chasing antelope (900 series archery) and the archery season for deer and elk opens on the 5th of September, which will be here before you can say hopper-dropper three times really fast.
And the magic of the fall fly fishing season in the northern Rockies is soon to arrive in all its glory; despite the skinny water and fires around there’ll still be some very fine fishing to be done.
August also means the best of the summer corn season is upon us; we’d probably rather eat it grilled and slathered in spices for just about any meal, though a summer corn soup is tough to beat as well.
Saving the ‘waxing poetically about corn soup’ for the true chefs among us, the keys to a great corn soup in our simple minds include using the freshest corn you can get your hands on (picked that day is the very best), bacon grease to saute the onions in, throwing a few roasted green chiles in for depth and spicing it up a bit with the spices below. Some might argue that the spuds aren’t really needed here, though they do add a bit more body to the soup.
Don’t let this summer’s fresh corn season pass you by.
2 quart corn stock or chicken broth
6-7 ears fresh sweet corn
2 tbsp bacon grease or olive oil
2 large onions, medium dice
5 large stalks celery, sliced thin
1 4-ounce can roasted green chiles
1 scant tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1 lb. spuds (Yukon Gold), medium to small dice
1 tsp. salt + more to taste
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. cayenne
½ tsp. ground coriander
1.5 cups whole milk or condensed milk
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped (or more) + ¼ cup reserved
Garnish: reserved chopped parsley, roasted red peppers, sliced pickled jalapeños
Prep the corn and spuds. Husk the corn and shave the kernels from the cobs; use the back / dull edge of your knife to scrape the corn milk and every bit of kernel off the cobs. You should have 4 ½ to 5 cups of corn. Wash and dice the spuds.
Heat your broth or corn stock to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the cobs.
Sauté time. Heat your fat of choice (bacon grease adds a nice touch here) in a skillet over medium-high heat; now sauté the onions for 4 minutes or so, then add the celery, thyme and green chiles for another 4. Set aside.
Simmer. Remove the cobs from the pot and add the onion and celery mixture, the spuds, 1 tsp. salt to start with, and the paprika, pepper, cayenne and coriander. Simmer covered for 20 minutes.
Finish it off. Now add the corn and milk; simmer for 5 minutes, do not boil. Remove roughly half of the soup and puree, then return to the pot. Turn off the heat and stir in the ½ cup of fresh parsley. Adjust the seasonings; it’ll need more salt.
Serve hot / warm garnished with a bit more parsley, roasted red peppers and a few sliced pickled jalapeños.
Enjoy.
