Chilled Corn Soup

Top Chef has given us many things: reasons to hate sommeliers, Padma, 'plate' as a verb, regular infusions of Anthony Bourdain into our loungeroom. It has also given us this chilled corn soup with mint and chilli oil.

It's very refreshing and has just the slightest kick from the chilli oil.

The recipe comes from a competitor in season five of Top Chef, Jamie Lauren. 

Chilled Sweet Corn Soup with Mint and Chili Oil
Ingredients:
3 ears corn, cleaned and cut off cob

2-3 sticks celery, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
50g butter
200ml cream
1 small bunch mint, tied with a string, plus extra mint leaves for garnish
salt to taste
1 potato, peeled and roughly chopped

/2 tablespoon dried chilli flakes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

1. Heat your butter in a large pot over a low-medium heat.

2. Add garlic and sauté till softened but not browned, season with a pinch of salt.

3. Add your onions and another pinch of salt. 

4. Cook till soft but not browned over a medium heat. 

5. Add the celery and cook til semi-soft. I like to partially cover the pot with a lid during all the sautéing. It helps your ingredients to keep their moisture, so that they soften without drying out and browning.

6. Add potato, corn, the bunch of mint and cover with stock.

7. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat and cook till potatoes are soft (around 20 minutes or so, depending on how chunky you cut your potatoes).

8. Meanwhile, make your chilli oil. Add the oil and chilli to a small pan, bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove from the heat once it starts to simmer slightly, and let it steep for 20 minutes. Strain it and reserve it. Beware: this will be very hot, so use it extremely sparingly.

9. Remove the bunch of mint.

10. Puree in your pot using a stick mixer, adding the cream a bit at a time, till it’s a nice smooth consistency. Alternatively puree the soup in batches in your blender.

11. Strain through a fine strainer and allow to cool. You might want to strain it a couple of times, especially if you don’t have a particularly fine strainer. Once this is cold you want it to be velvety smooth, not chunky at all. If in doubt, strain again.

12. Taste your soup, add more salt if needed. Thin it out with a bit of stock if you think it’s too thick.

13. Serve it in shot glasses, topped with thinly slice mint leaves and tiny (TINY!) drops of the chilli oil.

A great little starter for summer.