Fresh Corn and Poblano Cream Soup

Shuck the corn and remove the kernels from the cob.*

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add poblano pepper and cook until tender and just browned around the edges. Remove from soup pot to a blender. Blend with about 2 tablespoons of chicken broth; set aside. This will be used as your garnish.

In the same soup pot, still over medium heat, melt the butter. Add onions and garlic and cook until tender and fragrant but not browned. Add corn kernels to the onions and garlic; stir. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken broth and bring to a slight boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the corn is slightly tender.

If you have an immersion blender, go ahead and blend about 1/2 of the soup in the pot. If you have a stand-blender, transfer 2 cups of the soup to blender and pulse until slightly smooth. Return the blended mixture to the soup pot and repeat until you’ve blended approximately half of the soup.

To serve, ladle the soup into soup bowls, pour 1 tablespoon of heavy cream or half-and-half on top and then about a tablespoon of the poblano puree. This is simply for show because I promise you’ll want to stir that poblano cream into the soup to have a little taste with every bite.

*To cut the corn from the cob: shuck the corn, stand it up on a non-slippery cutting board and cut the kernels off of the cob by running your knife from top to bottom, pressing up against the cob.