Enjoying a warm, hearty, delicious bowl of soup on a winter night is one of the purest indulgences one can experience. As soon as Fall hits, I’m ready with my soup pot and pounds of seasonal vegetables to start whipping up all sorts of soups for me and my family. I made a new friend who taught me about poblano corn chowder, and while it’s taken me until November to make it, it’s such an amazing treat! The richness of the corn makes this a joy to eat, and the lime and poblano cut through everything to make sure this isn’t a heavy soup by any means.
For this recipe you’ll need:
4-6 large poblano green chilies, to taste
2 Tbsp butter
2 large white onions, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large potato, peeled and cut into chunks
4 cups of corn
5 cups of chicken stock
3 bay leaves
1 cup of heavy cream
The juice of one lime
1 tsp each of oregano and ground cumin
Roast your chilies however you usually roast them. You can do this either by putting them right on your stove, which is what I do, or you can put them under the broiler until the flash is black. Once the flesh is blackened, put everything in a bowl and cover it so that the steam can help loosen the skin from the peppers. Once they’ve cooled, strip the skin from the peppers; and then remove the seeds and stems before chopping up the poblanos.
In a large soup pot, cook the onion and celery in the butter for about 10 minutes on medium heat, just until the vegetables begin to brown. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute, and then add the potatoes and chicken stock to the pot. Once the stock boils, add in the spices and a pinch of salt and pepper. Allow the soup to simmer for another 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Add the corn to the pot: if it’s fresh corn, cook it for 3 minutes before moving on, but if it’s tinned or frozen corn, add in the poblanos immediately. Pour in the cream and then decide if you want to use an immersion blender on the soup or if you’d like it chunky.
Before serving, remove the bay leaves and pour in the lime juice. Garnish each bowl of soup with cilantro leaves and a wedge of lime.
