Peeling back the layers

and a recipe for creamy and smooth-as-silk corn soup

We’ve been shucking a lot of corn lately.

Between making my favourite tomato corn and peach salad, grilling corn for Bonnie Stern’s Mexican grilled corn salad, using the cobs to make stock, or simply slathering hot-from-the-pot corn with butter and lots of salt, we haven’t wasted a minute of late summer corn season.

As I peel back layer after layer of the bright green husk, the phrase “peeling back the onion” comes to mind. It’s a powerful metaphor for stripping away the layers we build around situations, emotions, people, ourselves. The process of gradually uncovering deeper layers of something complex can be at once exciting, daunting, painful and revelatory.

Getting to the core

I like to think that corn is the ultimate version of peeling back layers. Although it’s pretty simple—and satisfying—to rip the husks off with a quick flick of the wrist, still, those pesky strands of silk seem just about impossible to remove.

It reminds me that the big work of getting to the heart of something often go more quickly than we think. But it’s in the last sprint that things can get hard, that the tiny strands of our self doubt, our inner voices, our fears—real or imagined— get sticky and stubborn. Those silky strands cling, despite our best efforts.

That’s the time to stop stressing over having a perfectly clean cob, to throw the corn into the pot, to let it boil merrily, to let the strands fall where they may. We’ll never be entirely rid of all the filaments—and maybe we’re not meant to—but if we can continually get closer to the core, we’ll understand what’s beneath the surface, one cob at a time.

Yellow velvet soup with prawns*

The Oprah Magazine Cookbook

serves 6

When you’re as much a cookbook collector as a cook, you end up with interesting treasures. Chosen for whimsy, historical relevance, the hunter’s thrill of a find, or received as a gift, the problem is that there are many on the shelf whose spines have never been cracked, or pages splattered.

But there’s a nifty solution to breaking your 80/20 rule of cooking from the same books over and over. Eat Your Books is a subscription-based website that lets you catalogue your cookbooks and then use a searchable index to find recipes.

I don’t know how The Oprah Magazine Cookbook made it onto my shelves, but it languished there until we were searching for a corn soup recipe using EYB. It led us to yellow velvet soup with prawns.

It was a revelation. Restaurant-quality silky smoothness, intense corn flavor. A bit involved but not complicated. It’s become a weekly go-to while corn is in season, which Richard has refined to perfection.

Sometimes it’s worth looking beyond the cover to find out what’s inside. As true for life as it is for cookbooks.

*NOTE: Don’t let the long ingredient list deter you. I give the whole recipe below, but more often than not skip the prawns and use the garnish ingredients as a guideline, using just some peppers, fresh corn, tomatoes and marjoram, along with the lime juice and olive oil, to finish the soup.

Ingredients

PRAWNS:

¼ teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons honey

6 prawns (jumbo shrimp), peeled and deveined

Salt and freshly ground pepper

GARNISH:

1 poblano chili pepper

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 ears fresh corn, kernels removed

½ small yellow bell pepper, finely diced

½ small green bell pepper, finely diced

½ small tomato, diced

1 tablespoon minced fresh marjoram

¼ cup fresh lime juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

SOUP:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 ears fresh corn, kernels removed

2 small yellow squash, coarsely diced

Half a garlic clove, finely minced

1 bay leaf

3 cups vegetable stock or corn stock

½ cup heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Marjoram sprigs, for garnish

To cook prawns:

Combine chili powder, lime juice and honey. Add prawns and marinate in chili powder mixture 1 hour. Grill or sauté prawns 2 minutes on each side. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. (Prawns can be made 1 day ahead. Store in refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving).

To make garnish:

1. Roast poblano in a pan on stovetop or in broiler until completely charred. Place poblano in a paper bag; close bag and let stand 15 minutes. Remove from bag, peel off skin, remove seeds, and dice.

2. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add corn kernels and cook 3 to 4 minutes until corn brightens in color. Drain; set aside to cool.

3. Place diced vegetables in a bowl. Add poblano, remaining olive oil, corn, marjoram, and lime juice. Stir to blend well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare soup:

1. In a 6-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent.

2. Add corn kernels and squash, cooking 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and bay leaf; cook an additional 2 minutes.

3. Stir in vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cooking until vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in cream and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool 10 minutes. Purée soup in a blender and strain through a sieve. Adjust seasoning.

4. To serve: Ladle soup into bowls and spoon a mound of garnish in each bowl. Place one prawn on top of soup, if using. Finish with sprigs of marjoram.