CORN SOUP

After making the tomato soup, my mother was obsessed to see what other soups I could make. While thinking, this soup came up, as corn soup.

We bought a few kernels of corn at discount ($1.80 for 2, how cheap!) and (I) proceeded to google the instructions.

This recipe was slightly complicated. I used 3 ears of corn.

Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup of chopped shallots

3 cups chicken broth

3 ears fresh corn

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Remove the husks and silks from the corn. Set one ear of corn aside.

2. Use a knife to cut the kernels off of the remaining 2 cobs, then break the scraped cobs in half. Set aside.

3. Melt butter over medium-low heat in a large pot.

4. Add the shallots and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, for 8-10 minutes.

5. Add the chicken stock, corn kernels, broken cobs, whole ear of corn, salt, and pepper to the pot.

6. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for 10 minutes.

7. Remove the whole ear of corn and set aside to cool.

8. Cook the soup for 10 minutes more, then remove the broken cobs from the pot and discard.

9. Let the soup cool slightly.

10. Blend the soup in batches.

11. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and pass the soup through, using the back of a ladle to push the soup through in circular motions.

12. Discard the fibers and bits of kernels in the sieve. Return the strained soup to a clean pot.

13. It should have a creamy consistency. If too thick, thin it with water or chicken stock; if too thin, cook over medium heat until thickened.

14. Use a knife to cut the cooked kernels off the cooled whole cob, then add the kernels to the soup. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

15. Serve with garnish of basil and thyme.

16. Enjoy! :)

You could add a bit of sugar to bring out the corn's natural sweetness.

I boiled a chicken drumstick and used the water for chicken stock. It went well with the soup.

Recipe inspired by:

Once Upon a Chef https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/summer-corn-soup-with-fresh-herbs.html

GARDEN SALAD W CORN AND AVOCADO

Recipe

Ingredients:

300g Iceberg lettuce

200g Coral lettuce

150g cherry tomatoes

2 carrots

1 tomato

4-5 small corn

1 avocado

Prep

Tear out the lettuces from the core, wash and set aside

Dice all vegetables/fruits into bite-sized pieces

Directions:

1. Toss all ingredients into salad bowl

2. Add in your favourite salad dressing

3. Enjoy! :)

LEMONGRASS DRINK

"It was a hot day, and they longed for something cool to drink.." and so the story goes. This is the story of how I managed to make my lemongrass drink.

5 years ago, my brother worked in a cafe that made a superb lemongrass drink, according to his standards. However, we could not remember the recipe. So I went on the internet and found, like I do, the simplest lemongrass recipe. Like my 3-ingredients tomato soup and easy blueberry jam, this recipe only needed 3 ingredients also. (In fact, I only used 2)

Recipe

Ingredients:

2 stalks (2/3 cup) of lemongrass

1 and 1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup sugar

*I used no sugar as modified in the recipe

Prep

Roughly chop the lemongrass stalks

Directions:

1. Bring the water to a boil over high heat in a saucepan

2. Add the lemongrass and boil rapidly for 5 minutes

3. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the tea for an additional 5 minutes

4. Strain the stalks from the liquid.

5. Stir in the sugar until dissolved

6. Serve warm, or chill in the refrigerator and pour over ice

7. Enjoy! :)

Optional;

> Add ice and garnish with lime wheels

> Cut open the stalks to release more lemongrass taste

Recipe inspired by: TheWanderlustKitchen https://thewanderlustkitchen.com/addictive-fresh-lemongrass-tea/