Tag: corn

Creamy sweetcorn soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Sunshine in a bowl. Perfect with a big chunk of buttery bread. Feeds 2

  • 1 tbsp salted butter
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • ½ stalk celery, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 285g tin sweetcorn (or 265g frozen corn or corn cobs from 2 cobs)
  • 1 potato, peeled and diced
  • 500ml chicken stock (1 stock cube and boiling water)
  • 100ml double cream
  • Salt and pepper
  • Handful chives, snipped into bits
  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat
  2. Add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook for 7 mins, stirring occasionally, until completely soft
  3. Add the potato to the pan and stir into the buttery veg
  4. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes
  5. Turn up the heat, add the sweetcorn (including the liquid from the tin) and heat for a further 5 mins
  6. Take off the heat and use a hand blender to whizz until smooth
  7. Add the cream and season well. Re-heat gently until piping hot (don’t let it boil) and taste to check seasoning
  8. Serve sprinkled with chopped chives

Thai sweetcorn cakes

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Delicious, spicy little splotches of sunshine to make your mouth sing.

  • 6 spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
  • 1 red birdseye chilli, roughly chopped
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
  • Bunch of coriander stalks
  • 3 tbsp coconut cream
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • 3 heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 1 heaped tbsp cornflour
  • 2 heaped tbsp rice flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 large tin sweetcorn (325g), drained (keep liquid)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Veg oil
  1. In the bowl of a mini food processor, whizz up the chilli, lemongrass, garlic, coriander, spring onions to a coarse paste
  2. In a big bowl, mix together the 3 flours, baking powder, egg and salt, creating a thick batter by using some of the liquid drained from the sweetcorn
  3. Add the spice paste and sweetcorn and mix thoroughly
  4. In a large pan on a medium heat, heat up the veg oil and fry tablespoons of batter until golden brown on both sides and just cooked through

Eat immediately, ideally with friends, ideally standing in the kitchen with a beer, snaffling them straight out of the pan. Dunk them in this dipping sauce on the way to your mouth. It’ll knock your socks off!

  • Mix together 4 tbsp lime juice (roughly 2 limes-worth) with 2 tbsp caster sugar, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp finely chopped coriander, 2 finely minced garlic cloves, 1 finely chopped birdseye chilli. Ideally make about 20 mins before you eat

Corn fritters

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

The ultimate brunch. Also supper, lunch, I could argue breakfast too. This recipe makes 6-8 fat fritters. Pop some piquant salsa on the side, dollop on some crushed avocado, pop a poached egg on top or drizzle with sriracha. Or, of course, all of the above for ultimate delicousness.

  • 1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained
  • 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 3 spring onions, finely chopped
  • Handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 100g strong cheese (grated cheddar, crumbled feta, grated halloumi)
  • 250g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • Milk (enough to bring together as a thick batter, can add a couple tbsp sour cream instead)
  • Salt and pepper (add other spices to taste – maybe garlic powder, paprika, smoked paprika)
  • Veg oil

Just mix everything together briefly until well-combined but without over-beating it. Heat some veg oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Fry for about 4 mins a side until golden brown and cooked through. Keep warm in a low oven if you need to cook in batches. Enjoy!

Chilli cheese cornbread

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Moist, crumbly, a delicous mix of savoury and sweet, with a good poke of chilli. Excellent with tomato soup. Or toasted for brunch with some crushed avocado and a fried egg. Eat it up quickly as it won’t keep for long.

  • 40g butter
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 120g coarse cornmeal or polenta
  • 75g plain flour (or GF plain flour if you like)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 75ml plain yogurt
  • 75ml milk
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • 75g strong cheddar, grated
  • 1 small tin sweetcorn, drained

You can adapt this recipe easily to suit your tastes or what you have in stock. Take out the chilli, cheese or onion (just melt the butter and add it alone). Add chilli flakes, chopped ham, diced chorizo, pinch of smoked paprika, fresh herbs (chives or coriander work really well).

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C). Line a baking tin or loaf tin
  2. Melt butter and cook onions on a low heat until completely soft
  3. Tip all dry ingredients into large bowl, mix and make a well in the middle
  4. In a jug or another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk and eggs
  5. Pour this into the dip in the dry ingredients and stir together until smooth
  6. Add the chilli, cheese, cooked onions, butter and sweetcorn. Season with salt and stir together
  7. Spoon into the tin and bake for 35 mins until golden on top and cooked through
  8. When you take it out of the oven, leave in the tin for a couple of mins and then turn out
  9. Cut into slices or triangles to serve