Winter Mexican Corn Soup with Fried Cheese

This crazy California Winter weather has me all confused. One day it's cold and raining, then even hailing...frost covered mornings and wind blowing a gale. Then the next day, it's sunny and 80 degrees for three days. Completely bi-polar weather...Last week was perfect soup making weather because it was chilly and breezy. So I made this soup last week while my kids where home sick from school with the flu. Unfortunately, I also caught the kid's flu and it took me out. I was down for the count for three days and I was not able to get this posted as planned. Now, I'm feeling much better with no fever in sight and the weather here in Southern California is warm again too. I missed my cold weather window to post this Winter soup recipe. Anyway, we must charge forward and post.
I found this Winter Mexican Corn Soup recipe on Pinterest. Maybe it was the 'name' of the soup but I wanted to make this one soup before Spring. This is a wonderfully delicious corn soup and not a chowder as it would appear.

The added cream in this recipe is kept thin rather than thickened as you would expect in a chowder. It's a lovely mix of winter veggies: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions with summery chilies and sweet corn. It absolutely delicious. The recipe itself is pretty mild but if you want to spice it up a bit I would add some Jalapeno or cayenne pepper along with the Pasilla (Poblano) peppers. In fact, I added a sprinkle of Cayenne Pepper to add a little kick.  :)
I also made some Queso Frito, or Fried Cheese to complement this soup. I don't know if you've ever had fried Cotija cheese before, but let me tell you...it is utterly amazing! Salty, buttery and cheesy but it's not soft. This is no Mozzarella cheese let me tell you. It's a firm, chewy cheese when pan fried. It crusts over easily but doesn't melt into a gooey mess as with other cheeses. It browns evenly and holds form. My husband's family introduced me to fried Cotija cheese and it's one of my favorites. It's simply delicious! Enjoy!

Winter Mexican Corn Soup (From Versesfrommykitchen.com)
Serves 4-6

 

• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 small potato, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 garlic head, halved horizontally
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, thick dice
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups corn, about 4 cobs
• pinch of turmeric (I added Coriander since I couldn't find my tumeric)
• 1/2 tsp. ancho chile powder (I substituted coarsely ground ancho chiles) 
• 1/2 poblano, seeded and finely diced (I used a whole pepper)
• coarse salt & pepper (I added Cayenne Pepper too)
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup cream
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• small handful of cilantro, torn

Preheat broiler. Place sweet potato, potato, onion, garlic, carrot on a parchment-lined baking tray. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. of olive oil and give it a quick toss, making sure to spread out the mixture across the sheet. Broil 5 minutes, toss and broil for a further 5 minutes. Remove from oven and when garlic is cool, squeeze the garlic out. Discard the skin.

Heat the remaining oil in a large pot over medium heat. When oil is hot toss in the corn, sweet potato, potato, onion, garlic, turmeric, poblano and ancho powder and stir. Allow the flavours to mix for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, and then add in the stock and cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce and simmer for 30 minutes. Season the soup and remove it from the heat. Add in the cream and lime juice and whisk to incorporate.

 

Ladle into bowls and top with the green onions and cilantro leaves.

Fried Cheese (Queso Frito)

• Cotija Cheese, sliced about 1/2" thick into 8 pieces
• Canola Oil, for frying ~1 Tbsp.

Add Cotija Cheese pieces to a non-stick skillet coated with canola oil. Fry on medium heat turning cheese frequently until it is evenly golden.(~5 minutes.) Remove from heat and cool on paper towels. 

Serve with Winter Mexican Corn Soup and crusty bread or just eat them while the soup cooks! That's what I did. Enjoy! :)