For a couple of weeks this summer, our CSA was delivering a crazy amount of fresh sweet corn each week. And since there’s only so much corn on the cob we could eat, I sought out a good corn chowder recipe. As I was also snacking from a huge tub of roasted cashews, I wondered if I could put them together for a vegetarian cashew corn chowder?
Making Cashew Corn Chowder
I did some researching and found what seemed to the common parts of all good summer corn chowders that were made with cashews.
Then I discovered I also had a ridiculous amount of carrots from the CSA as well. Could I use them as well? No one seemed to be including carrots, but I thought they’d add some great color since my corn was more on the white than on the yellow side.
Without a doubt, making corn chowder with fresh corn is the way to go. Especially if using those super fresh ears of corn that show up in farmers markets. That’s when this is the prototypical summer corn soup.
Knowing that those fresh corn days are limited each year, substituting frozen corn kernels in this cashew corn chowder any other time of the year is perfectly acceptable as well.
Toasted Corn Stock Base
I actually wound up making this a number of times over the summer before landing on using a toasted corn stock as the base. This toasted corn stock recipe will yield anywhere from 3.5-5 cups of water depending on how much steam escapes during the pressure cooking, you’ll just add water to round up to 6 cups of total cooking liquid.
This is a great way to make use of what would ordinarily be food scraps that you’d toss in the trash (or your compost bin). All of the cobs and husks that are left behind can be put in the pressure cooker to make toasted corn stock
I also found that pesto is a great topping for corn chowder!
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 2 White Onions Chopped
- 3 Carrots Peeled & Chopped
- 1 Cup Roasted Cashews (Rinsed if really salty)
- 3 Cups Corn Kernels from about 6 ears
- 6 Cups Liquid Toasted Corn Stock + Water
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
-
Melt the butter in the base of your pressure cooker and add the onions, carrots and cashews
-
Cook over medium for about 5 minutes
-
Add the corn kernels, cooking liquid and baking soda and seal your pressure cooker.
-
Raise the temperature and cook for 20 minutes once full pressure is reached
-
Once depressurized and cooled, blend the mixture to a smooth consisentency
can you make this without a pressure cooker?
Absolutely! You won't need the baking soda. Then, I'd cook the onions first for about 10 minutes by themselves before adding the carrots and cashews. After that, you may want to cook it over a low simmer for up to an hour. Hope it turns out great for you!