Silky Corn Soup

This soup is gorgeous. That is the perfect way to describe it. One of the things that I like about this soup is the corn stock. When I was finished making the stock, it really looked like chicken stock, with a nice golden colour. I made the stock on Thursday and when I was ready to make the soup on Friday, I pulled it out of the fridge and I had the soup ready in about an hour.

I have often made soups that call for straining at the end of the recipe. Usually, I ignore these directions, opting for a chunkier, more rustic soup. I also feel that I am getting more bang for my buck (in terms of quantity) by leaving the vegetables in the soup. For this soup, I was tempted to leave the corny bits in the soup but I decided to follow the recipe. After I strained the first bit, I took a taste and I was in love - with the taste and even more, the texture. I decided to strain the whole pot.


At this time of year, I find myself making different soups to freeze and put away for fall and winter. The only problem is that they taste so good, I keep pulling them out of the freezer and serving them for simple suppers any old time! I guess I will just have to keep trying...

Silky Corn Soup

Corn Stock
10 peaches & cream corn cobs
2 onions, chopped large
4 cloves garlic
2 carrots, peeled & chopped large
3 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 bay leaf
1 t. whole black peppercorns

1. Cut the corn niblets from the cobs. Set corn aside and place the cobs in a large stockpot. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, bay leaf and peppercorns to the pot. Fill with enough cold water to just cover the ingredients.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the liquid through a fine strainer into a bowl and set aside.

Soup Base
1/4 c. butter
1 T. garlic, minced
1 c. onions, chopped
1 T. curry powder
1/2 t. turmeric powder
2 red or yellow peppers, roasted (I used the red ones that come in a jar)
5 c. or so fresh corn kernels
6 c. or so corn stock
1 can coconut milk
1 T. kosher salt
1/2 t. chile paste

1. Melt the butter in a large stock pot. Add the garlic and the onions and saute for 5 minutes until soft but not brown. Stir in the curry powder, turmeric, roasted peppers, and fresh corn kernels. Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Pour in the corn stock and kosher salt and simmer gently for 40 minutes. Add the coconut milk and chile paste and heat through. Puree the soup in batches in a food processor or blender. (Be careful when blending hot soup in either of these machines!)
3. Strain the soup through a fine strainer to achieve the silky texture. Garnish each portion with chopped cilantro, if you like.

Blueberry Oat Squares

There is a blueberry farm down in Harrow that I have not seen the likes of anywhere else. Klassen Blueberry Farm is huge, with pick-your-own or ready-pick, blueberry milkshakes, and fresh blueberry pie (a la mode) by the slice. It is a summertime tradition down in Essex county, one that is a little taken for granted if you're living locally, but sorely missed if you've flown the proverbial coop.

Alan received an email from a friend last night who asked if I might have any good recipes for a blueberry dessert. I started thinking about it and this morning and I pulled out all of Klassen's recipe pamphlets. Each summer they publish a little pamphlet with last years Harrow Fair prize-winning blueberry recipes, blueberry information, and the blueberry hotline phone # - to call and find out what the status of the blueberries is on any given day. I came across a recipe that my Mom made a couple of years ago, Blueberry Oat Squares. Very easy and very good, a 2nd place winner at the fair in 2005 (submitted by a Mrs. M. Mass).


The prizes for winning the "Klassen Blueberry Dessert Special" are 1st-$100 and 2nd-$50. The catch is that winners must present the Klassen family with a fresh blueberry dessert by Sept. 30th to receive the prize money. The recipe must accompany the dessert.

Blueberry Oat Squares

Blueberry Mixture:
2 1/2 c. blueberries
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1 t. fresh lemon juice
1 t. grated lemon peel
2 T. cornstarch

Combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in water and lemon juice until smooth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat & let cool.

Oat Crust:
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
3/4 c. butter, melted

Combine ingredients for oat crust. Press half of the mixture in an 8x8 greased pan. Add blueberry mixture. Top with rest of the crumble. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

Nicoise Bruschetta

Did you happen to catch the blog entry called "Recipes Gone Wrong"? It was only up for a couple of days before I deleted it. Had nothing to do with exposing myself to ridicule; I actually don't mind doing that! There are lots of recipes that don't make the grade, believe me. I could practically have a second blog just for flubs.

In "Recipes Gone Wrong", I recounted how I had confidently given my friend Shaila a recipe for Roasted Fennel Nicoise. Luckily there is a time difference between her house and mine, because even as I made the salad, I thought to myself that maybe I shouldn't have given her a recipe that I hadn't made in years and even then it had been in France, where, let's face it - everything tastes better. I had boldly instructed her to make a dish for a dinner party that, when asked if he would like any of the salad, Alan's reply was, "Is that what that is?"

In the end, I caught Shaila just as she was on her way to buy the ingredients and she seamlessly changed course (Black Bean Salad with Avocado & Cilantro, Nov. '07). No harm done.

I do have a reason for bringing this up again. Last week, my sister mentioned they were having friends over for drinks and nibblies. I told her that she should turn the Nicoise mixture into bruschetta (minus the roasted fennel). They went one step further and smeared goat cheese on the baguette and she called raving about it the next day. Today, I decided to try the combination myself and it really is dynamite.


I had a few minutes of sheer bliss as I munched on the delicious bruschetta while sipping Jamie Oliver's "Creamy Rhubarb Cocktail" from his newest cookbook "Jamie At Home". It doesn't get much better than that! (Note: After having the nibblies & cocktails, I was certainly not hungry for dinner. Kids got plain baked chicken breast and not much else. Not sure what Alan had. Then I took Ellen upstairs to get her ready for bed, at which point I fell into a deep sleep and one and a half hours later, awoke to find her just coming back upstairs for bed again. Was it all worth it? You bet it was!)

Nicoise Bruschetta

1 baguette, sliced diagonally
Creamy goat cheese
2 c. tomatoes, cored, seeded & diced (fresh field tomatoes, if you can get them)
15 small black olives, preferably Niciose
1 clove garlic, minced
2 or 3 anchovies, finely chopped (or 1 t. anchovy paste)
1 shallot or white part of green onion, chopped finely
5 or 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1 1/2 T. pesto)
1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1. In medium bowl, mix the tomatoes, olives, garlic, shallot, basil leaves, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt & pepper together. Let sit for a at least 15 minutes to let the flavours mingle.

2. Toast slices of baguette. Spread a generous amount of goat cheese on each piece of baguette. Spoon the tomato mixture on top of the goat cheese. Either assemble all of the bruschetta and then serve, or enjoy as you go along!

Swiss Chard, Yukon Gold & Cheddar Gratin

I drove up to Farmer Jones' house today and he had an extra sign at the road. Along with four dozen eggs, I got a bouquet of zinnias, a big handful of romaine, and a grocery bag full of Swiss chard. I'm not sure if he is selling his rabbits as pets or as dinner, so I didn't ask! As we pulled into the driveway, I could see the goose and duck waddling around over by the pond. A quick glance and I saw that Mr. Cogburn was out and about. I love that place.

I tried this dish back in the winter with Kale and Gruyere cheese. Tonight I used what I had in the fridge and I think it was even better than the first attempt. It is part frittata and part potato gratin. My daughter Ellen even enjoyed it. I did have to keep emphasizing the cheesiness to her!

Swiss Chard, Yukon Gold & Cheddar Gratin

3/4 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced
Large bunch Swiss chard, washed & stemmed
1 T. butter
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ lb. white mushrooms, sliced
Freshly ground pepper
Kosher salt
½ c. old cheddar cheese, grated
¼ c. Parmesan cheese, grated
3 extra large eggs
1 ½ c. milk

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
2. Steam or boil the potato slices for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender, and set aside. Once cool, slice the potatoes into matchsticks.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add 1 T. salt and the washed Swiss chard. Cook for about 4 minutes, until tender, and transfer to a bowl of cold water. Drain, squeeze out water, and cut into strips.
4. Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet (I used my Le Crueset cast iron skillet) over medium heat and add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms are soft and flavourful. Add the Swiss chard and the potato slices, and season the mixture generously with salt & pepper. Remove from the heat and stir the cheddar cheese into the mixture. Scrape into the pie dish.
5. Beat together the eggs and milk. Add ½ t. salt, some pepper, and the Parmesan. Stir together and pour over the potato mixture. Bake for 40 minutes, until nicely brown. Serve warm.

Mousseline Buttercream

I remember the exact time I made my first true buttercream. It was the night before my sister's wedding shower and I wanted to make the cake to end all cakes. I decided to do half the recipe of Anna Olson's wedding cake from the "Inn On the Twenty" cookbook (you can read about that cake on the blog - June '07). As I was making the buttercream, I was completely amazed at the process and the taste. It was a real revelation that I could create this silky, other-worldly icing, and you can bet that I tasted my fair share of it along the way! Giddy would be a great way to describe me that night as I danced around the kitchen, drunk on my success. (see picture below, a little lopsided but still delicious!)


Since that cake, I have made many buttercreams, sometimes trying different recipes (the Silk Meringue Buttercream was fabulous), different flavours (pear, chocolate, banana), and gracing different cakes (cupcakes, big cakes, white, chocolate, etc.). I mostly use "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Her recipes are very detailed and I have always had excellent results.


When my friend Annie asked me to consult on cupcakes for her wedding, I quickly volunteered to make the cupcakes myself. An outside wedding in the middle of the summer would be tricky, so I did some research, looking for the sturdiest buttercream that would hold up on a warm day. The mousseline buttercream fit the bill. Annie's Mom, Janette, had some doubts about just having plain old cupcakes at her only daughter's wedding, until I took some over for a tasting. Janette & I had a wonderful afternoon, tasting cupcakes, and experimenting with the sugared violets that she made for the wedding. They looked gorgeous and tasted even better! (the picture above is from Annie's wedding)

My procrastination really got the best of me that weekend. Mousseline buttercream can be made ahead of time and stored 10 days in the fridge or up to 8 months frozen. Do you think I made one batch of that stuff ahead of time? Not one! Another quirk of buttercream is this: "If the butter is too soft or the room too hot, what could have been a satin-smooth cream breaks down into a grainy puddle." The week before Annie's wedding was very hot and humid and my parents didn't have air conditioning in their house. This created a huge problem, especially since I was using the oven to bake cupcakes non-stop. I ended up dragging my KitchenAid around to three neighbour's kitchens, air conditioning mandatory. In the end, the cupcakes looked lovely, and thanks to my sister and brother-in-law, they were iced and ready on time. I will never under-estimate how long it takes to ice that many cupcakes again! (picture below is my nephew Hugh's first birthday cake from this past weekend)


Mousseline Buttercream

1 lb. unsalted butter, softened but not too soft
3/4 c. + 1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. water
5 or 6 egg whites (use a glass measuring cup to measure 5 oz.)
1/2 +1/8 t. cream of tartar
2-3 oz. liqueur (Grand Marnier, Banana Liqueur, Poire Williams, etc.), optional

1. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy and set aside in a cool place.
2. Have ready a heatproof glass measuring cup near the stove.
3. In a small heavy saucepan, heat 3/4 c. sugar and the 1/4 c. water, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Stop stirring and reduce the heat to low. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan and keep an eye on the temperature.
4. In the bowl of your KitchenAid, beat the egg whites until foamy, add the cream of tartar, and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Increase the heat and boil the syrup until the thermometer registers between 248 and 250 degrees (the firm-ball stage). Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measuring cup to stop the cooking.
5. Working quickly, pour a small amount of syrup over the egg whites with the mixer off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue doing this with the remaining syrup. For the last addition, use a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measuring cup. Lower speed to medium and continue beating up to 2 minutes or until cool. If not completely cool, continue beating on lowest speed.
6. Beat in the butter at medium speed 1 tablespoon at a time. At first the mixture will seem thinner but will thicken beautifully by the time all the butter is added. If at any time the mixture looks slightly curdled, increase the speed slightly and beat until smooth before continuing to add more butter.
7. Lower the speed slightly and drizzle in the liqueur. Add food colouring now, if desired. Place in an airtight bowl. Re-beat lightly from time to time to maintain it's silky texture. Buttercream becomes spongy if left standing too long. Don't ever beat a buttercream that has been chilled and hasn't come back up to room temperature.
Makes 4 1/2 c. of buttercream, enough to fill and frost a 9-inch layer cake or lots of cupcakes!