Spicy Corn and Crab Soup

I don’t know about you but I more than enthusiastically welcomed that nation-wide cool front this past weekend. Yes, fall is slowly moving in and with it bringing all the foods and flavors of the season and I can’t wait. But before we exchange our tank tops and flip flops for sweaters and boots, how about we give one last cheer to good ol’ summer by making one of my favorite warm-weather meals; Spicy Corn and Crab Soup. This soup is summer in a bowl: light and silky with a touch of heat. I finished it off by stirring in some freshly-shelled crab for a substantial sweetness that melds perfectly with all the pureed, garden-fresh veggies.

Before we get started...
This soup is a puree which means of course needing a blending apparatus and for me, only an immersion blender will do. Yes, I consider the immersion blender to be the Elder Wand of the culinary world. With it, I can blend, chop and puree whatever I please right in the pot I cooked it in without having to mess with (and clean) my clunky blender . (If you make your own baby food, I don't have to tell you how convenient that is.) If you are a classic- blender purist than by all means continue on as usual but if you are looking for an awesome alternative, run down to Bed Bath and Beyond, because I know you have a coupon, and pick one up.

Please direct your attention to my fridge and take a moment to admire the stunning portrait inspired by my likeness that my niece gave me 

moving on...

Cleaning corn has the potential to get quite messy, so to prevent you from finding corn silk around your kitchen weeks after cooking it, I am sharing the ultimate shucking-hack guaranteed to be as mess-free as possible:

1. Cut about ¼ inch off the top of each cob

2. Microwave on high at five minutes per cob. So, if microwaving two cobs at a time, microwave  for ten minutes.

3. Using nice, thick oven mitts to handle the corn because it will be HOT, remove the cobs from the microwave and cut off the shank (stem end) and about 1/4- 1/2 inch of the actual cob

Holding the top of the cob squeeze/ pull/shimmy the corn right out of the husk. The silk should remain in the husk, leaving you with perfectly cleaned cobs of corn. 

 -To clean the kernels from the cob, simply rest a small bowl upside down inside a large bowl. Place the cob upright on the smaller bowl and while holding the cob in one hand, run your knife the length of the corn where the kernels meet the cob, releasing the kernels.

  *hang onto your cobs; you aren’t quite done with them yet!*

 now onto our recipe.....

Spicy Corn and Crab Soup

Tools needed:

• Cutting board
• Sharp knife
• Large pot
• Large spoon
• Blender

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1 small red bell pepper
• 2medium carrots
• 1-2 jalapenos (depending on how spicy you like your soup. Don’t like it spicy? Leave it out!)
• Corn from 6 cobs or about 6 cups frozen corn
• 64 oz vegetable broth
• 2 cups spinach or other leafy greens
• 1 cup whipped cream (dairy cream or coconut cream)
• 16 oz or 2 cups chopped or lump crab meat
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil in the pot over a medium to medium high heat

       2. Dice your onion. (1-2 cups of pre diced, frozen onion works well too, just reduce cooking time)

       -Start by slicing the onion in half starting at the root to create two equal portions.  

       -Remove the paper skin and lay the onion half flat towards the edge of your board for better leverage

       -Now, CAREFULLY make horizontal slices without going all the way through the onion. (Don’t go too far back to the root until you are comfortable with this technique because your knife can quickly slip. 

        -Next, while using one hand to hold the horizontal slices in place, make vertical cuts. 

        This will create your dices. Again, everything is still intact on the root end

  * make your horizontal and vertical slices closer together for a smaller dice and further apart for a larger dice.

-While holding the onion together with one hand, carefully make horizontal cuts to release the dice.      

*Remember, this is a blended soup so it doesn’t matter if your dices are pretty, but for the sake of even cooking, it’s important to try to get everything as close to the same size as possible *

3. Dice the bell pepper

 -slice the pepper in half and clean out the white membrane and seeds

-laying it skin-side down on the cutting board, run your knife vertically and then horizontally,  creating dices

 4. Add both the diced onion and bell pepper to the pan with some salt and stir to coat in the oil.

5. Slice the carrots into fairly thin disks and add them to the pot and toss with the onion and bell pepper 

  6. Dice the jalapenos just like the bell pepper, making sure to remove the white membrane and the seeds and add them to the pot.

7. Once the vegetables have begun to soften, add the corn kernels. 

*if you hung onto the cobs, glide a spoon all around each cob to get the remaining pieces of kernel that might have been left behind while slicing. You will also notice a white, chalky liquid being released with the kernel bits. This is corn starch and not only will it provide additional corn flavor to the soup, but also help give it a slightly silkier texture as well.*

8. Stir to incorporate all the veggies and add the broth

9. Bring the pot to a boil and continue to cook until all the vegetables are very soft and the soup is fragrant.

10. Roughly chop the spinach and stir into the soup

*One thing you will quickly learn about me is that I incorporate greens anywhere I can. You need at least 3 serving of leafy vegetables a day and this is an easy way to accomplish that, however this is not a mandatory ingredient as most corn soup recipes leave it out*

11. Once the spinach is wilted, either transfer the soup into a blender or use an immersion blender, and blend until it is smooth and creamy. Salt and pepper to your heart's content.

12. Pour the soup back into the pot and fold in the whipped cream

(to make your own whipped cream or coconut whipped cream, which I think goes great in this soup, simple use whole fat, canned coconut cream, or heavy whipping cream and whisk until  thick and fluffy)

 13. Stir in the crab, portion your soup into bowls and garnish with any leftover crab

**Make it all yours!**  if you can’t get any, or just don’t want crab, chicken, shrimp, crayfish, oysters and even tofu could be great protein- rich additions to this soup.

- Also, experiment with your peppers, different kinds of peppers offer different levels of heat, sweetness and other unique flavor characteristics, especially after roasting. Try them all and give your soup a subtle switch up each time you make it!
 -Use the techniques and methods in this recipe to create any pureed soup by using your choice of veggies. Now go make something Delicious!

Easy Potato Gnocchi with Garlic Thyme Cream

How can you get all the taste and pleasure of homemade pasta without having to spend all that time rolling out dough? Gnocchi! Gnocchi is a classic Italian potato pasta/dumpling dish that is as light and fluffy as it is warm and comforting. And easy! Did I mention easy yet? There are several recipes for gnocchi floating around out there and many, while seemingly promising, offer nothing more than doughy, dense nuggets as a final product. Well, after learning numerous methods during culinary school, working with chefs and attempting to copy restaurants’ dishes, I think I have cracked the code for making those cravable little pillows that are buttery and crisp on the outside, while soft and downy on the inside.

When I made this dish I was craving some carby comfort food, so I went all out on a garlic thyme cream sauce to drizzle over the gnocchi (I’ll share the recipe at the bottom). Gnocchi however, can be topped with any sauce that you would serve with your favorite pasta: tomato, brown butter, cheese, or any variation of cream sauces all go wonderfully. I’ve even had Canadian Poutine with gnocchi instead of fries. *drool* You can also toss the dumplings in Aglio E Olio sauce to crisp up using my recipe here  http://deliciousdiaita.blogspot.com/2014/08/spaghetti-aglio-e-olio.html

 

*As mentioned, there are a few optional methods when making gnocchi. Generally, the classic pasta method includes baking the potatoes first and making a “well” or “volcano” with riced potatoes and flour, setting the eggs in the center and slowly incorporating flour until the desired texture is met. And while this method obviously works, when I am home (and hungry) in my tiny kitchen, I prefer to be as efficient as possible.  This involves microwaving the potatoes, which I feel leaves them less dry (maybe not what you want for a baked potato dinner, but definitely for gnocchi).  Next, I form the dough in a large bowl instead of on the counter (we will need that space for rolling anyways). While purists may scoff or grimace at my way of doing things, I have yet to make a bad batch of gnocchi while “cutting corners” in this manner. 

Potato Gnocchi

Tools needed:

·         Dinner fork

·         Microwave

·         Large bowl

·         A large fork or potato masher

·         Knife

·         Large pasta pot

·         Pan

Ingredients:

·         1 pound russet potatoes (two medium size)

·         1 teaspoon kosher salt

·         ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

·         1 large room temperature, beaten egg

·         1 ½ cups sifted, All Purpose flour (you may need less or more depending on your dough)

·         2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:

1. Wash and clean the potatoes. Pierce all over with a fork and then microwave until soft ( about ten minutes)

2. Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil while preparing the dough

3. Slice the potatoes in half and scrape all the flesh into a bowl *CAREFUL they are very hot!* and discard the skins (I always try to chop up the vitamin-packed skins and use them in soups to avoid tossing them)

4. Mash the potato well. There shouldn’t be any lumps, but don’t mash too long or else it can get gummy.

5. Once the potato is mashed, stir in the beaten egg, salt and pepper

6. Stir in ¼ cup of the flour until incorporated. Continue stirring in the flour 1/8 cup at a time until a soft, dough ball forms. (This prevents you from loading the dough down with too much flour which can cause them to be too dense)

7. Now you have dough, divide it into 4 pieces. Working with one piece at a time, start in the center and with your hands; slowly and carefully roll the dough out into a rope with a diameter of about ½ inch. Dust your surface with a little flour so the dough doesn’t stick *the dough should be soft so handle with care*

8. Using your knife, start cutting the rope into pieces about one inch long (I always make my gnocchi the size of the middle joint on my finger) and toss the pieces in a little flour if they are still too sticky

9. If you want to create those classic gnocchi- ridges, roll each piece over the prongs of a fork. (You can also use a gnocchi board to roll your gnocchi over but, if you own your own personal gnocchi board, I am assuming you have your own, amazing gnocchi recipe and probably don’t need mine. If you do have a board and are, in fact here to use my recipe, I am flattered)

10. By now your water should be boiling, so working with just a few dumplings at a time, drop the pieces into the water. They will sink to the bottom and will float right back up to the top of the water when they are done.Drain them and lay on a towel to dry a little

 11.After all your gnocchi are cooked, heat the butter in your pan until it starts to sizzle. Add the gnocchi and brown each side (if your butter is hot, this will only take a few seconds per side) 

 

**Try to not devour all the gnocchi like before they make it to the plate, because you are going to want to try this garlic thyme cream sauce I made!**

 

Garlic Thyme Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

·         1 tablespoon butter

·         2 tablespoons minced (finely chopped) garlic (about 2-3 cloves)

·         The zest and juice of half of a lemon

·         4 tablespoons thyme

·         1 ½ cups of heavy cream

·         Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter over medium heat

2. Once the butter is hot, add the minced garlic and stir around, coating in the butter

3. As soon as the garlic is aromatic, add the lemon zest, juice and thyme

 4. Give everything a big stir and pour in your cream

5. Let the cream reduce until it coats the back of a spoon (watch your heat, you may need to turn it down to prevent the cream from scorching)

6. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as needed

*between the gnocchi and cream sauce, this dish is HEAVY! So, I always serve it with a side of  veggies.

 Now *Make it Yours*

I have already pointed out potential sauces for the gnocchi (you can also use any herbs in the cream sauce), but you can also replace some of the potato in the recipe with other vegetables like carrots, beets, parsnips and even leafy greens! Or, you can add a little cream cheese or ricotta for richness.  Just remember, when changing up a recipe, it might take some practice so be patient and keep playing with your food and go make something delicious!