Chilled corn soup

chilled corn soup with shrimp salad, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

with shrimp salad
Cold soups are interesting. I always think of soups as a warming dish on a cold day but this summer the opposite works too. Last week I made gazpacho from my garden harvest....excellent burst of flavors.
I found this recipe in the Bon Appetit magazine August and thought I'd try it. The recipe called for lobster but I couldn't find it in Denver..certainly not live so I substituted Key West wild shrimp.
Although the soup looks really creamy it is dairy free. All of the flavors are extremely subtle and for a guest to try to detect the ingredients is a mystery to the senses. Try this with your summer corn. It is worth it:

Chilled corn soup with shrimp salad:
corn soup:
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
6 cups of corn kernels (6 ears)
2 sprigs thyme
salt, pepper

Shrimp Salad:
2 cups gently cooked shrimp, cut bite size
1/2 small shallot, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp good olive oil plus more for drizzling
fresh ground pepper
3 Tbsp celery LEAVES, coarsely chopped plus more for garnish
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon, coarsely chopped plus more for garnish
Sea salt

Saute onions and garlic in butter and oil until soft, about 5 minutes
Add corn and season with salt and pepper, cook until soft and almost brown, about 8 minutes
Add thyme sprigs and 5 cups of water, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until corn is very soft (6-8 mins).
Discard thyme sprigs
Transfer to blender and work in batches until all pureed
Force through sieve or strainer, separating the solids.
Chill liquid for 2 hours

Salad:

Whisk shallot, lemon juice and mustard in a bowl,
Whisk in olive oil
Season with salt and pepper
Add shrimp, celery leaves and tarragon
Chill for 2 hours

Assemble:
Pour soup into bowls
Add salad to soup
Sprinkle with celery leaves and tarragon
Drizzle with olive oil
Season with salt and pepper

Bon Appetit Froid!

Tomatoes for dinner on shrimp enchiladas

shrimp enchiladas, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

This morning on the way to the Farmers' Market to buy these lovely heirloom tomatoes I was listening to a segment by chef Jaime Gwen. She created this recipe for some sort of seafood celebration and highly recommended to give it a try. So I did. It reminded me of a fabulous lobster thermidor only with a chipotle kick wrapped in a tortilla and topped with guacamole and fresh Brandywine tomatoes. Brandywines are an heirloom tomato very dark red with a bit of black streaked through. OMG these were good. Her recipe will be posted only for a week. If you want it past then, I can e-mail it.