Corn Soup with Chicken and Poblano

We enjoy soup often during the winter. Yes, I'm one of those people who would rather have soup on a cold day than in the middle of summer. 

Summer in north central Montana has arrived. The grass is green, the garden is growing, the lilacs are blooming, and I'm wearing flip-flops. It's beautiful.

Having said that, today's high was only 56. Still beautiful... the sun is shining and there's a slight breeze and it's not too hot for a bowl of soup!

I've been following along with I Heart Cooking Clubs Rick Bayless theme and have really been enjoying it. I've made some things that I probably would not have tried otherwise.


This weeks theme is It's All Yellow, so I chose a corn soup. Rick's recipe uses milk, but I recently made New England Clam Chowder and didn't want another milk-based soup, so I made mine with homemade chicken stock and it is delicious.

The corn is pureed in a blender along with sauteed onions and garlic, then the stock is added to it. Cubed chicken goes in the pot along with a roasted poblano. Very corn-y tasting and really delicious! If you're looking for a soup that's a little different, give this a try, I think you'll like it. Chopped cilantro would have been a nice garnish on this, but somebody here doesn't like cilantro, so I went with chopped chives. I think some crumbled Queso Fresco would be a nice garnish, too. 

This recipe was adapted from Ricky Bayless' Creamy Corn Soup with Chicken and Poblano Chile from his book, Mexican Everyday.

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Corn Soup with Chicken and Poblano

1 large poblano

1 T olive oil

1/2 large onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 can corn (about 2 cups)

2 T flour

1 qt chicken stock

1 large chicken breast, cut into cubes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Roast the poblano under the broiler, turning as necessary until skin is blistered and blackened. Remove from broiler and put into a small paper bag to steam.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer the onions and garlic to a blender. Add corn, flour, and chicken stock. Puree the mixture, then return the mixture to the saucepan.

When the poblano is cool enough to handle, remove the skin, stem, and seeds and cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Add the poblano to the soup. Add salt and pepper.

In a separate frying pan, cook the chicken in your choice of oil until white, about 5 minutes. Add chicken to the soup and simmer until chicken is done, about 25 minutes.