Corn Consomme

With Tom Bivins

Smolak Farms of North Andover, Ma is one of those uniquely New England family farms that have survived for over 300 years. Today the descendants of Martin and Magdalenna Smolak continue to farm the land. In 1982 the Smolak Family preserved 107 of the 160 acres in cooperation with the State of Massachusetts Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program, insuring that this area would forever remain open land, never to be developed.  For the past 35 plus years, H. Michael Smolak has overseen the development of the farm from a dairy farm to what it has now become, an attraction that includes a farm stand, bakery, petting zoo, children’s educational center, function facility and numerous other activities. (For example you can see a full list of festivals that run through Christmas time on their website: www.smolakfarms.com)

Whim, a dining experience where a top regional chef prepares a three-course meal in the rough, is held at Smolak Farms every Wednesday evening through August 24th. The menu is created from all local ingredients from Smolak Farms. We had the chance to tape one of those Chefs, Tom Bivins, Executive Chef at the New England Culinary Institute, outside on the farms lawn as various children’s activities occurred around us. Tom is originally from Louisiana but has been in Vermont for many years, working at several well-known Inns and is expert at local ingredients, both farmed and wild.

One of the dishes that Chef Bivins prepared was his Corn Consommé with Mushroom Glacé, which may sound harder to make than it is. Fresh corn is here and there is nothing quite like that taste when it is grown locally and your are eating it within hours instead of days (or weeks) from when it was picked. To help avoid menu fatigue you will want to look at this recipe.

The other interesting thing about this recipe is that it allows you to not only enjoy the fresh corn flavor but you use the parts of the corn that you usually throw away. The husks, the cobs and even the silk, are all used in making a corn stock, which is strained to make a clear soup stock or consommé. You can even freeze the stock for later use.

Ingredients

12 ears of corn, corn removed from cobs, (husks, cobs and silk reserved for consommé)
Reserve the corn kernels for garnish
2 Leeks, whites only, rinsed well and sliced fine. 
Reserve the leek greens for garnish
1 Spanish onion, chopped small
2 celery ribs, chopped small
2 tablespoons butter
1 bay leaf
1 herb bouquet garni of parsley, thyme and marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste
Water (approximately 2 gallons)

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a large pot (preferably stainless steel).   Add leeks, onion and celery and toss in butter.  Over low heat, sweat the vegetables without caramelizing the vegetables.                                                                             2. Remove the corn kernels from the cobs and rinse cobs. Place cobs, husks and silk in a large pot.  Cover with water and add the bay leaf and the herb bouquet garni.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
3. Simmer for 1 hour.  Skim the surface as needed. Remove from heat.  Strain through cheesecloth and chill.
4. Once cold, remove any fat from the surface.  Return to heat and reduce by half.  Chill again and remove any fat from the surface.  Season to taste. 
5. At this point serve hot as is or puree with reserved corn and cold heavy cream or crème fraiche for a chilled cream of corn soup.
6. Separately, blanch the corn kernels in boiling salted water, removing any excess silk.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Freeze half the corn for later use.  Use the remaining corn as a garnish for the consommé. 

Other garnishes: 

Sautéed wild mushrooms
Crispy wild onions
Common Daylily corms or tubers (clean well and pan fry in canola oil; season with salt)
Toasted Potato brunoise (A mixture that has been finely diced or shredded, then cooked slowly in butter. The brunoise is then used to flavor soups and sauces.)
Fresh Herbs
Corn Cakes
Seafood- Crab, shrimp or lobster
Piperade- sautéed onion, green pepper, and tomatoes and olive oil with a pinch of Spanish Sweet Paprika (A Basque dish from France has multiple versions but is most often based on tomatoes and sweet green peppers cooked in olive oil. Pipérade can be served as a side dish or main dish.)

 Recipe courtesy of Tom Bivins, Executive Chef, New England Culinary Institute, 2011.

Currently executive chef for New England Culinary Institute, Tom Bivins has worked at fine inns in Vermont for the past 17 years. After graduating form Louisiana State University, Tom attended and graduated from New England Culinary Institute in 1991.  He became the chef for the Inn at Shelburne Farms from 1993-1997, after a stint as its Pastry Chef and Sous Chef. He left Shelburne Farms to open The Pitcher Inn in Warren, Vermont as executive chef. While helming its kitchen, The Pitcher Inn received its Relais et Chateaux designation. In 1999, he became the executive chef at The Old Tavern at Grafton in Grafton, Vermont, one of the Original Historic Hotels of America.  Tom joined the educational team at New England Culinary Institute in 2003 and became its executive chef in 2004.

Chef Tom utilizes a love of Vermont’s local farms, seasonal produce, artisan cheeses, and wild foods to develop menus and instruct students of the Institute. His passion for seasonality has been showcased at The James Beard Foundation, Epcot Center Festival of Food and Wine at Disney World and at the Smithsonian Institution’s Food Culture USA in 2005, highlighting wild foods with wild crafters Les Hooks and Nova Kim of Wild Gourmet Foods of Vermont.
He is currently president of Vermont Fresh Network, an organization committed to fostering relationships between farmers and chefs, a member of Chefs Collaborative and a past Vermont chapter chair of American Institute of Wine and Food.  He is a founding board member of the Wild Food Gathers Guild. In 2006 and 2008, he was a Slow Food USA delegate to Terre Madre in Turin, Italy and is currently faculty advisor for Slow Food NECI, a campus chapter of Slow Food USA.