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SWEET CORN AND WILD MUSHROOM SOUP

This soup is for summer, when corn is at its peak. It uses a simple, great technique: it makes a stock from the corn cobs. How many corn cobs have people thrown out, not realizing how much flavor is still in them? When you simmer the cobs—after you’ve cut off the kernels—all the remaining milk from the corn is released into the water, creating a really flavorful broth. You can make all kinds of soups with it and you can also use it to make sauces; try this corn cob stock in a hot vinaigrette and serve it with seafood, for instance.

Instead of making a roux I purée half the corn in a Vitamix blender and return it to the soup to give it a luxurious texture. (If you don’t have a Vitamix you can use a regular blender and give the liquid a quick strain if it isn’t smooth.) And I garnish it with flavors that taste fantastic with corn: mushrooms and bacon.

Serves 6 to 8

Corn Cob Stock

6 ears of corn

1 red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, sliced 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted (see Symon Says)

2 quarts (8 cups) Chicken Stock or water

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Soup

2 tablespoons corn oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup Seared Wild Mushrooms

½ cup crumbled cooked bacon

To make the corn cob stock, cut the kernels from the cobs and reserve the kernels for the soup. Toss the cobs into a large pot with the onion, garlic, rosemary, coriander, stock, and salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the solids. You should have about 4 cups. The stock will keep in the refrigerator overnight.

To make the soup, heat the oil in a 4-quart pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sweat it for 2 minutes. Add the reserved corn kernels and continue to sweat the mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 3 minutes. Add the thyme, corn stock, and cream and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove about half the corn with a slotted spoon and purée it in a blender with enough of the liquid to get it moving. Whisk the puréed corn back into the soup and return the soup to a simmer. Divide the soup among six to eight bowls and garnish with the mushrooms and bacon.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLING SOUP

Pap, my granddad, made this soup for just about every holiday I can remember, and for me it remains bound up with family and celebration and love. It would be years later that I learned that the dumpling dough had a fancy name, pâte à choux, which is an excellent and versatile dough, but here, it’s just a dumpling, enriched with chicken fat (rather than the traditional butter) and seasoned with fresh tarragon. At the restaurant, we serve these with walleye, but even for that dish we cut the dumpling dough straight off the board and into the pot. This recipe can be done all at once, but it’s best to start this a day before you want to serve in order to de-fat the stock (and use the fat for the dumplings!).

Serves 6 to 8

Soup

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 carrots, finely diced

2 parsnips, finely diced

1 onion, finely diced

1 celery root, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

Kosher salt

2 quarts (8 cups) Chicken Stock or water

1 3-pound chicken, preferably organic or naturally raised

2 bay leaves

dumplings

Unsalted butter, if needed

1 cup whole milk

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon

3 large eggs

To make the soup, melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, parsnips, onion, celery root, garlic, and a good three-finger pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock and bring it to a simmer. Season with salt to taste and then add the chicken and bay leaves. Bring the stock back up