Winter Mexican Corn Soup

With winter holding steady we slowly usher ourselves to dormancy. Stillness and tranquility. The pace weakens and stalls. Life forgets for a short while, after the hurried pace of summer and fall. The cold weather is a welcome reprieve, forcing us in to reconnect and reunite. The good life, the one we long for during the heat seeker months, has finally welcomed us home.

There are few things we enjoy more during the numbing calendar months of winter more than a hot bowl of soup. A pot of flavourful, spicy, aromatic soup that is both warming and enticing. And this time of year in particular we hark back to one of our many trips to Mexico for a soup like this. The recipe get folded up and saved away for a day like this, frigid and white and menacing. We were married three years ago tomorrow on the beach in Mexico, but since we’re home it felt fitting to resort to a recipe we longed for during our days there.

We have an affinity for Mexican food, the spices and intoxicating aromas. It stems from all that love they throw into their meals for the people they most care about.  Some of the food experiences of our lives were enjoyed in and around Mexico, like fresh fish tacos, authentic sauces, cold cervezas and spicy corn soup.  One that I recreated the other day for my wife and I. The perfect food for days like these.

These last three years have been the most joyous of my life. My wife makes everything better, day by day. And I’m forever grateful for the her presence and the impact she has made on my life.  I look back on that day three years ago, the wind gusting up from the lake shore as the sun set her head on another day, and I think about all the love I felt because I was able to marry my everything. It was an emotional day, and one I won’t soon forget. I’ll never forget the sight of her standing beside me, hand in hand, reciting our own vows under the translation of our wedding planner and the look on her face. And the smile on mine. Each and every single day since.

It’s been three short years and I love her just the same.

P.S. May 2013 bring you all the love and joy that your heart can handle. Happy new year. Thank you for continuing to visit my little blog, it is and will always be appreciated. Your readership means a great deal to me.

Winter Mexican Corn Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 small potato, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 garlic head, halved horizontally
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, thick dice
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups corn, about 4 cobs
• pinch of turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. ancho chile powder
• 1/2 poblano, seeded and finely diced
• coarse salt & pepper
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup cream
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• small handful of cilantro, torn

Prep:

1. Preheat broiler. Place sweet potato, potato, onion, garlic, carrot on a parchment-lined baking tray. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. of olive oil and give it a quick toss, making sure to spread out the mixture across the sheet. Broil 5 minutes, toss and broil for a further 5 minutes. Remove from oven and when garlic is cool, squeeze the garlic out. Discard the skin.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a large pot over medium heat. When oil is hot toss in the corn, sweet potato, potato, onion, garlic, turmeric, poblano and ancho powder and stir. Allow the flavours to mix for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, and then add in the stock and cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce and simmer for 30 minutes. Season the soup and remove it from the heat. Add in the cream and lime juice and whisk to incorporate.
3. Ladle into bowls and top with the green onions and cilantro leaves.
4. Serves 4-6.