Celebration Corn-Tomato Soup

-Provided by Amy Cotler, author of The Locavore Way

Serves 4 main course, 6 appetizers, makes about 6 cups

Ingredients
1 large onion
1 poblano chili
1 jalapano chili
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon butter
8 ears of  corn
3 cups chicken stock*
salt
1 cup milk, preferably whole
1 lemon
2-3 ripe tomatoes or 1 basket of cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar or cider vinegar
6-8 large basil leaves

Directions
1-Dice onion. (I like using a sweet onion.) You’ll want 1-1/2 cups, but if you get less, don’t worry about it. Cut the chilies end to end. Pull out the stem, knock or spoon out the seeds. Cut into strips and dice. Peel and mince garlic cloves.
2-Melt butter over medium heat in a pot or large skillet with a tall lip. Add the onion, chilies and most of the garlic, reserving about 1/3 for later. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
3-Shuck the corn, then remove the silk.  Hold each cob, standing up by the large end in bowl.  Scrape down the kernels with a sharp knife to remove them, turning as you work. Add kernels to the pot. (If the pot is the right shape, that is more wide than tall, I like to turn off the heat and scrape the corn right into it.)
4-Add chicken stock, salting to taste if it’s homemade. (Less is better than more.) Simmer for 15 minutes. Add milk and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add the juice of the lemon, then taste, adding salt if necessary.
5-Remove the tops and chop the tomatoes. Or, if using cherry tomatoes, half or quarter, as you like. Mix in a small bowl with the reserved garlic and the vinegar. Pile the basil leaves on top of each other and roll. Then slice thinly. Do not chill. Reserve the tomatoes and basil for garnish.
6-To serve, heat the soup. Ladle into the warm bowls. Spoon the tomato mixture into center of each bowl, dividing it equally. Sprinkle with the basil.
Salt: I like adding salt several times, but never too much. Most chefs add kosher of sea salt at various stages of cooking so it gets integrated into the flavors, rather than layered on top at the end. Recipes generally don’t do this, as it’s too much to talk about!) Soup can be made and held in the fridge.

Recipe style: I integrated the ingredient preparation into the numbered procedure, rather than adding it to the ingredient list, as in “1-1/2 cups onion, diced”. This makes for a longer recipe, but one with more explanation of chopping, dicing, etc.

*For vegetarians, use vegetable instead of chicken stock