Second sweet corn post, my previous one was the Sweet Corn & Thyme Risotto , this week I am cooking vegetarian food. This is not new to me, I once as a result of a dare, tried to live as a vegan for two weeks, it was tough initially but I got to appreciate the lifestyle at the end of it. Not having a massive chunk of animal protein on the plate, forces you to become creative about what you eat. I also became a big alfalfa groupie…..

Vegetable puree soups are great because they are delicious and so easy to make, and they normally require few ingredients. This chilled sweet corn soup uses pureed kernels and a stock made from the cobs. Since sweet corn is naturally sweet & creamy, you don’t need too many ingredients or processes to coax or create flavour. This soup is sweet from the corn, creamy & tangy from the lime mascarpone, and has a little heat from the cayenne pepper. The cheddar tuile has a contrasting crunchy texture.

Sweet Corn Stock

• From 4 corn cobs cut away the kernels. Set the kernels aside.
• Cut cobs into small pieces about 5cm/2inches in size.
• Add cobs into a sauce pan, along with a sprig of thyme, a small roughly chopped spanish onion, a teaspoon sugar & a pinch of salt.
• Cover cobs with about 500mls of cold water. Gently bring to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
• Strain & reserve the stock.

Sweet Corn Soup

• Fill a big sauce pan with water, add lots of sugar & salt. Bring the water to a vigorous boil.
• Add sweet corn into sauce pan, cook for about 8-10 minutes.
• Once cooked, strain off corn kernels. Refresh corn kernels in ice bath to stop the cooking process.
• Working in batches, spoon corn kernels into a blender then add enough sweet corn stock to cover the corn. Blitz until smooth.
• Pass sweet corn puree through a fine sieve.
• Place sweet corn soup in the fridge to chill.

Cheddar Tuile

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.
• Grate some cheddar cheese.
• On a silicon baking mat, spoon some grated cheese & form to your desired shape.
• Sprinkle some cayenne pepper on top of grated cheese.
• Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, then set aside to let tuile cool & harden up.

Lime Mascarpone

• Add lime juice to some mascarpone cream as per your taste.
• Season with salt.

Assembly

• In a bowl, spoon a dollop/quenelle of the lime mascarpone.
• Pour in the chilled sweet corn soup.
• Sprinkle a little cayenne pepper on soup, then garnish with cheddar tuile.
• Done!