Corn Chowder with Tomatillos & Poblanos

I have not tried a new recipe for quite a while. One of the reasons is I changed jobs a few months ago and that means a new group of people that are new to Soup at Work so the recipes I've made before are brand new to my new co-workers so I have been going with the tried and true soups. This week's soup is a new one for me that I tried at home last weekend and found a couple of tweaks were in order.

The original recipe is from Rick Bayless. If you watch much PBS you may have seen Rick on his show "Mexico - One Plate at a Time". I enjoy his show because his dishes are straightforward and familiar to me since I love Mexican food, am married to a Mexican-American, and live in Tucson surrounded by a wealth of Mexican food. Lately Rick has been including his daughter in his shows and I find her annoying so I have not watched as regularly as I used to. Anyway, I have made a couple of changes to Rick's recipe and I note where those are.

There is one conundrum with my version of this soup. I use my wife's tomatillo salsa instead of Rick's "Frontera Roasted Tomatillo Salsa" which he calls for in the original recipe. The conundrum is that Berdie has sworn me to secrecy regarding her tomatillo salsa so I can't tell you how to make it for use in this soup. That means you're going to have to buy Rick's salsa or find another tomatillo salsa to use. Sorry for the trouble but I pity the poor soul that would leak the recipe of her salsa, I shudder just thinking of the consequences. That said, you should be just fine with another salsa...

This recipe makes about 6 cups, enough for 4 good eaters or 6 light eaters. I double the recipe for Soup At Work and get 7 quarts. Including prep time you can expect to spend about 60 minutes making the soup.

INGREDIENTS

1 white onion, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 large fresh poblano chile, stem, seeds, and ribs removed, roughly chopped (if you can't find poblanos you can substitute pasillas)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
2 cups of corn kernels (I strongly recommend the canned yellow corn from Trader Joe's, it is much better than any frozen corn I've had and darn near as good as off the cob and a lot less messy)
2 cups tomatillo salsa (see my comment above)
2 1/2 cups of chicken broth
2 tablespoons of corn masa (the smallest amount I found to buy is 24 ounces at Sprouts)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice or more to give it just the right tang (not in Rick's recipe)
Salt to taste
Garnish with chopped cilantro and shredded jack cheese

METHOD

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the onion and poblano in the oil and butter until both are tender, about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Add half of the corn and all of the salsa to the pot and process to a smooth puree with an immersion blender (a must have for making soups). If you don't have an immersion blender you will need to transfer the cooked onions and poblano to a blender, add half the corn and all the salsa, puree, and pour back into the pot. Rick's recipe calls for straining the pureed mixture when returning to the pot and I chose not to because I like the thicker consistency and it is one less thing to do and utensil to clean.
3. Stir in the broth, partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 30 minutes.
4. While the mixture is simmering, mix the masa with a 1/4 cup of water making sure there are no lumps. Rick calls for straining the masa mixture but I chose not to.
5. After simmering the mixture for 30 minutes add the masa mixture and stir until you see the soup thicken just a bit.
6. Add the lemon juice and salt to taste
7. Add the remaining corn
8. Return to a simmer
9. Serve with a garnish of chopped cilantro and jack cheese