Kitchen Wench

This simple recipe is from the September issue of Saveur magazine, one of my favorite food magazines.  Because it doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, it’s one of those dishes where the quality of produce really makes a difference.  In other words, this soup is all about the late summer sweet corn.  Unfortunately, corn in the Mid Atlantic doesn’t compare to Midwestern sweet corn.  If you’ve ever had it, the kernels are plump, juicy, and sweet as candy.  I think it has something to do with the cooler temperatures helping the sugars in the plant develop?  I hear that’s how it works with maple trees… Point being, corn here is not nearly as flavorful.

So, I tried my best with the recipe.  I bought my corn, bacon, herbs, onions, and garlic at the Mt. Pleasant farmers’ market this weekend.  While everything else was great, the corn was small and a little bland.  I had to add some sugar and a fair bit of salt and pepper to punch it up.  If you have great sweet corn at hand, omit the sugar.  Otherwise, with a little doctoring, this makes some pretty tasty corn chowder.

Corn Chowder

Adapted from Saveur magazine

• 4 ears of fresh corn
• 4 strips of bacon, chopped
• 2 1/2 tbsp salted butter
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 rib of celery, chopped
• 1/2 a medium white onion, chopped
• 1 small bay leaf
• 3 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 3/4 lb of red potatoes, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• kosher salt, sugar, and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp sliced fresh basil for garnish

1.  Shuck corn, removing as much of the silk threads as possible.  Working over a large bowl, slice corn kernels off the cob.  Scrape the knife along the cob to remove all the juices.  Reserve 3 of the cobs and slice in half.  Set aside.

2.  In a large pot or dutch oven, heat bacon over medium heat.  Cook until crisp.  Reserve 1.5 tbsp of bacon for garnish, leaving the rest in the pot.  Add butter, dried basil, garlic, celery, onion, and bay leaf.  Cover and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

3.  Add corn, cobs, milk, and potatoes.  Cover and bring chowder to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.  Skim any foam from the surface of the soup with a slotted spoon.  Discard cobs and bay leaf.  Season with salt, sugar, and pepper.

4.  Remove pot from heat.  Using an immersion blender, puree soup to your desired consistency.  (The original recipe calls for pureeing 3/4 cup in the blender.  I got a little enthusiastic with the stick blender and ended up with a thicker chowder.)  Serve with reserved bacon and basil sprinkled on top.

Makes 4 servings.

Anthony Bourdain is in DC this weekend to film an episode of “No Reservations.” As someone who regularly fantasizes about having Tony’s job instead of being chained to a cubicle, this is exciting stuff. I was even more titillated when I got a tip that he would be shooting at the Penn Quarter farmers’ market, a scant block from my office. And so, I began to plan.

Would Bourdain show up early, right when the market opened at 3? Would he come late, towards the end? Would he even spent time walking around with the commoners or would he rush directly into the welcoming arms of José Andrés, whose Café Atlantico and minibar are across the street? How often should I check the market? Every hour? Every half hour? Every 20 minutes? AHH!

Sadly, it was not to be. Instead of pretending that I needed to buy an iced tea from Teaism every 20 minutes, I ended up in a cold hotel conference room, listening to some men in suits yammer on for over an hour. I almost never have to leave my office to attend a conference, so this was a little soul crushing. I had even packed my digital camera and everything.

I got back to my office at 5; the Penn Quarter market closes at 7. Maybe I hadn’t missed him? I grabbed my camera and headed for the door, only to be greeted by a freak summer thunderstorm which dumped sheets of water all over downtown. When it finally let up around 6, the market was shutting down and Bourdain and Andrés were nowhere to be found. All I got was a discount on a pint of soggy black raspberries. (They were delicious, but still…)

According to a commenter at Penn Quarter Living, Bourdain was there, right when the market opened. Right when I was trapped at that conference. DCist captured a picture and José Andrés; according to the comments, he’s already hit Chadwicks in Georgetown and Busboys and Poets on U St. Next stop: Ben’s Chili Bowl, though I suspect I’ve already missed it if he was at Busboys this afternoon.

The thing is, it’s not that I haven’t seen Anthony Bourdain in person before; I went to his book talk at Olsson’s last year. I paid $36 and waited in a really long line for him to sign my book, only to get up there, utter a nervous, “Hi” and hand him a slip of paper with my name written on it. But I didn’t watch the show as much back then. I didn’t care as much/was totally distracted by all the DC toolbags that were at the book signing. It’s just that I was so close yesterday, or at least I thought I was. I guess I’ll just have to settle for watching him on tv.