Creamy corn soup with mushrooms

Serves 6-8

This soup is super tasty and the perfect filling meal served piping hot on a cool autumn or winter’s night. Serve it as a main or an entree.

Ingredients

12 fresh corn cobs, husks and silks removed

4 litres water

100g butter

1 bunch of spring onions, tips and roots removed and then roughly chopped

2 brown onions, skin removed and roughly chopped

250ml cream or natural yoghurt

300g swiss brown mushrooms, thickly sliced

1 garlic clove (or 2 if you really like garlic), finely chopped

1 small sweet chilli, finely chopped

1/4 cup chives, finely chopped

Herbamare seasoning

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Cut all of the kernels off the corn cobs and set them aside in a bowl. Break the corn cobs up a bit with your hands and place them into a large stockpot.
2. Pour 4 litres of water over the top of the corn cobs and bring to the boil over a medium/high heat. Once boiling, continue to boil rapidly for one hour.
3. Remove stockpot from the heat and drain the liquid off the cobs, making sure to collect it all. This is your corn stock! Discard the corn cobs (preferably to your worm farm or compost). At this point measure the amount of corn stock you have. There should be at least 1.5 litres. If there is more, not a problem. If you have not enough, add enough water to make it up to 1.5 litres.
4. Place the stockpot back on the stove and place 70g of the butter into it. Heat at a medium/high heat until all the butter is melted.
5. Add the spring onions and onions, stir well, continuously cooking for 10 minutes. Make sure you do not burn them, you just want them soft and nicely browned.
6. Add in the corn kernels and stir well. Leave on a medium heat for about 15 minutes or until corn kernels are softened.
7. Add in the reserved corn stock and stir well. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
8. Puree the mixture using a stick blender, making sure it is nice and smooth.
9. Add in cream or yoghurt and stir well.
10. At this point, you need to season your soup. Add in salt, cracked pepper and herbamare in small amounts. Test the soup after each round of seasoning to ensure you get the taste just right.
11. Place the soup back over the heat and keep simmering while you prepare the mushrooms.
12. Melt remaining butter in a saucepan. Once melted, add in mushrooms, garlic and chilli and cook, stirring until the mushrooms are tender and brown.
13. You are now ready to serve your soup. Work quickly to ensure the soup is piping hot when it hits the table. Use wide, shallow soup bowls and ensure they are warmed. Divide the mushrooms between the bowls, making sure to pile them up in the middle of each bowl. Ladle the soup around the piles of mushrooms and then scatter the chives each pile of mushrooms.
14. Enjoy!