Corn Bisque with Smoked Paprika Yogurt: The Recipe & Results

Check out this recipe on my new and improved website: thewalkingcookbook.com

Smokey paprika gives an interesting touch to this simple soup.

This week's post will be compact-- recipe and results in the same post! I promise, though, I have spent the last few days memorizing this recipe. I had on my Master List that I wanted to learn to make a bisque, but I then realized that I didn't know the difference between a chowder and a bisque. My hypothesis is the following: A chowder has potatoes and a bisque does not. Research time!

[5 minutes later]

I was wrong. It turns out a chowder and a bisque both have the same beginning preparation and similar ingredients, depending heavily on cream. However, a bisque is pureed, making it smooth, while a chowder remains chunky. Emeril Lagasse explains it from what seems to be his home office in this video:

So there we have it:
chowder= chunky
bisque= smooth

This affects the modifications I was going to make to this recipe, since I was going to leave some of the corn out of the blender to add in for texture. Does that make it a chowder? Not totally. I guess I will be making a chisque... or bowder. I hope neither of those are inappropriate words.

A final note before I get to the recipe: Corn is a summer veggie, but I love how quick and easy it is to use frozen corn, so I am going to modify the original recipe from LA Magazine to make it more NYC winter friendly (AKA: 11°F, feels like 0°. Ugh.)

They really shouldn't say that things are "easy as pie"...
let's change that to "easy as corn bisque"

Fage is the creamiest of the Greek yogurts I have tried,
so I like using a dollop on top of the soup.

The Recipe: Corn Bisque with Smoked Paprika Yogurt, adapted from LA Magazine
Yield: 6 servings
Weight Watchers Points: 3 pts. per serving (about 1 cup)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups frozen corn kernels
• 4 cups veggie broth
• 1 cup cream
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 stick butter
• 3 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

Preparation:

• In a large pot, sweat the diced onion and garlic in the other half of the butter.
• Add corn, veggie broth, cream, and a pinch of sugar.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 90 minutes.
• Meanwhile, mix together the yogurt, smoked paprika, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Refrigerate until serving.
• Using a blender, puree the soup (carefully-- blenders don't like heat).
• Salt and pepper to taste. Top with smoked paprika yogurt.

Only fill the food processor about a third of the way...
the soup rises to the top, and it is hot! No need for explosions.

Be sure the vent is open in your processor,
and hold a kitchen towel lightly over the opening just in case.

The Verdict:

This "bowder" ended up being the perfect consistency-- a teeny bit brothy, a little textured, not too heavy, but very creamy after timidly but successfully blending it in the food processor. The ingredients and process were both so simple that I couldn't really think of a way to mess this one up, and it was a big fan favorite. The natural sweetness of corn just begs for something a little more rough around the edges, which is where the smoked paprika steps in. Add some bread for serious dunking and you are all set! In a perfect world I would have let it sit on the stove a bit longer to evaporate some of the liquid. However, the extra moisture just gave me a reason to eat more bread!