Your Sunday Recipe

Instead of a poem, time to make soup while some wonderful summer produce is available. This recipe is from the L.A. Times “Culinary SOS" column and originally came from The Organic Panificio Café in Marina del Rey. In Los Osos, the only place I could get parsnips was at Vons.

Sweet corn and parsnip soup

2 ½ tb butter (or use butter and olive oil)
1 c diced onion
1 stalk celery, diced
5 cloves garlic, smashed
3 springs parsley, plus chopped parsley for garnish, divided
4 sprgs thyme
1-2 bay leaf (discard before blending)
3 c. (1 lb) fresh, sweet yellow corn kernels (from 5-6 ears)
1/3 pound peeled, trimmed and diced parsnips
2 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper (season to your taste. I tossed in sage, poultry seasoning and curry powder, whatever else caught my fancy on the spice shelf.)
6-7 c milk (I use low fat milk since the soup is so rich and creamy from the corn, I think fat milk would be a bit much)

I use a large wok-type pan for the start, put in all the diced stuff (minus the corn) and saute on medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring. (to make sure the parsnips are soft) Add corn and sauté for another 15, stirring frequently. Then I dump it all into a large soup pot, fish out the bay leaves, add the milk, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Cool a bit then puree with an emersion blender. (Or scoop out in batches and use a regular blender) Adjust seasoning to taste and add more milk if needed.

If you want to get really chi-chi, could run it all through a food mill to really remove any bits of fiber. Or you if your dice is small enough, could remove ½ the veggies, puree the rest, return the dice and turn it into a chunky chowder. Either way, it’s rich and yummy, especially if you can get your hands on sweet fresh corn. Enjoy.)