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Monday, September 7, 2009

Roasted Bell Pepper, Corn and Tomato Soup with Spicy Shrimp

Cooking Light magazine is great, when you want to cook light. I mostly want to cook light, but when a pureed soup doesn't call for butter and heavy cream, I become concerned. The bones of the recipe belong to Cooking Light, but what makes it taste phenomenal belongs to me.


I originally wanted to make this with lobster instead of shrimp. But alas, I wasn't able to find lobster. Like I have mentioned before, I live in a steak n' potatoes type of community. I am surrounded by corn fields and big fat heifers. There isn't an ocean in sight. Frown. The best I can get is shrimp, which is surprisingly quite good quality. But I still wish I had had a lobster. And I would have wanted a live one. And I would have loved to kill it. Unlike Julie Powell in "Julie and Julia", killing a lobster wouldn't faze me. I mean I kill cockroaches. And lobsters are technically the same thing except they feed off of everything in the ocean whereas cockroaches feed off of everything in a dirty kitchen. So who cares about killing a lobster? Plus, it tastes fantastic and a cockroach does not.



For the soup:
4 ears of corn, shucked
3 red bell pepper, halved and seeded
4 large tomatoes, halved and seeded
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
1 tsp kosher salt
A few grind of black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 bunch chives, minced, for garnish

Heat the grill to medium high. Once hot, place the corn and bell peppers skin side down. Grill for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and grill for 5 more minutes or until vegetables are soft. Remove vegetables from the heat and set aside until cool enough to handle. Once cooled, roughly chop the bell peppers and tomatoes and place in a bowl. Slice corn kernals off the cobs and place into the same bowl. Set aside.

In a large pot over medium high heat, add olive oil and butter. Once the oil runs quickly in the pan and the butter is melted, add the onions, salt, pepper and cayenne. Saute until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add grilled vegetables and garlic and stir until warmed through. Turn heat to high and pour in stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Blend soup in a blender in batches or with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in butter and heavy cream. Serve with a few shrimp on top and some minced fresh chives.

For the shrimp:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb medium shrimp
1 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds of black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

In a medium bowl, combine shrimp, salt, pepper and cayenne. Toss to combine and set aside.

In a medium skillet over medium high heat, add the olive oil. Once the oil runs quickly in the pan, add the shrimp. Saute until pink, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour shrimp into a bowl. Serve soup with a few shrimp on top.

Yields 6 bowls of yummy soup.

Served with this: green salad and good bread for dipping.

Rookie's Notes: If you want to make this vegetarian, use vegetable stock and don't make the shrimp.

6 comments:

rabidrunner said...

Have you actually eaten a cockroach? I mean, that would be the only way you'd know that a cockroach is not fantastic. They might be as fantastic as lobster, you know.

Which leads me to wonder when and why-on-earth did you eat a cockroach. Fear Factor? You were a contestant in Fear Factor, weren't you.

Sue said...

I can testify that this soup was beyond amazing - it reached the realm of incredibly fantastical - the kind of food where you purr while your eating it.

Mrs. O said...

Ooo I love shrimp (and also heavy cream) - bookmarking this one.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Oh, geez, I sure didn't need that discription! I'll take my soup with shrimp. Shh, don't say anything!

Happy Labor Day!
~ingrid

Unknown said...

Yes. Butter. Heavy cream. Shrimp. Corn. Red pepper.

Will your sister yell at me if I tell you that I'm planning on making this one?

Sarah said...

looks delicious! This is going on next week's menu (this week is already planned and purchased)