Summer Corn & Tarragon Soup

“Fresh is Best” tends to ring true to for me. I am lucky enough to have a green thumbed husband who keeps me well stocked all summer and fall with produce. Lets face it, I barely keep succulents and air plants alive, and when the live ones go to the plant graveyard, I replace them with realistic artificial ones. The one thing he never grows is corn, thankfully we have a farm relatively local to us, and we keep their cash box well stocked in the summer months. Generally we keep it pretty casual with fiesta salad and corn on the cob, but this time I attempted my husband’s favorite chowder. Now the one he is used to has heavy whipping cream, flour, and butter, so to strip all of that out and still have something that tastes savory and rich is quite the task.

I set out with farm fresh corn and a dream. I knew not having flour as a thickener was going to make things interesting, so I had to come up with an alternative. Now if arrowroot powder is not readily available in your area, feel free to use cornstarch instead.

Ingredients:

• 8 strips of thick cut bacon

• 1 1/2 diced yellow onions

• 4 cups corn

• 1 can coconut milk

• 24 oz chicken stock

• 1 tbsp tarragon

• 1 tbsp thyme

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 pepper

• 1 tsp arrowroot powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Dice bacon and add to pan.

3. Add diced onion to pan with bacon.

4. Cook bacon until crisp and until onions are translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. In a large saucepan, boil corn cobs and diced potatoes.

6. Cook on boil for about 12 minutes.

7. Remove from heat and place corn and potatoes in a bowl to cool.

8. Pour out water and return saucepan to stove.

9. Add bacon and onions to pan. Add potatoes and chicken stock to pan. Stir to combine.

10. Add in salt, pepper, tarragon, and thyme.

11. Slice corn off the cob. Put half of the corn into the pan.

12. In a blender, add half the can of coconut milk and the rest of the corn. Blend until incorporated.

13. Add blended mixture to the pan.

14. Stir until incorporated.

15. In a glass, mix arrowroot powder with a dash of water until powder is dissolved. Pour arrowroot liquid into the soup.

16. Let simmer for 10 minutes to thicken, then remove from heat.

17. Enjoy!