Mushroom Potato Crema with Roasted Poblano

It's 'Feel the Heat' week at I Heart Cooking Clubs.  Well, we're sure feeling the heat in Texas this summer!  We hit 106° the other day so I thought I'd make a nice hot soup; you know, just to take the chill off.

The heat never deters me from making soup; even when the soup contains a little added heat with chilis.

Chicken broth, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, corn, poblano chile, yogurt, rosemary and cilantro all come together to produce a soup that's earthy with a hint of sweet from the corn and spiced up with roasted poblano.

At first taste, I wasn't a big fan, but my mind was completely changed after the garnish of fresh cilantro had a little time to do its magic.

Mushroom Potato Crema with Roasted Poblano
Adapted from Rick Bayless' recipe as it appears on his website
Makes a generous 6 cups serving 4

Ingredients:
4 medium (about 1 pound total) red-skin boiling or Yukon Gold potatoes (I used Yukons)
3 garlic cloves
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1 large fresh poblano chile
8 ounces mushrooms ( I used a combination of shiitake and enokidake)
1 scant cup corn kernels (frozen or fresh off 2 cobs) (I used fresh)
1 large sprig fresh epazote (I substituted 1 sprig fresh thyme)
1/4 cup plain yogurt, heavy cream or sour cream (I used yogurt)
salt
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro, for garnish

Mise en place:

• roast poblano chile over open flame or 4 inches below a broiler then place in a plastic baggie while prepping the rest of the ingredients (I demonstrate how I roast mine in this post)
• measure out broth
• peel cloves and slice in half
• remove kernels from ears of corn (here's my handy way of coralling those kernals)
• measure out yogurt
• roughly chop cilantro
• peel potatoes and cut roughly into 1-inch pieces
• rub the blackened skin off the chile and pull out the stem and seed pod.  Rinse the chile flesh to remove bits of skin and seeds.  Cut into 1/4-inch pieces

Method:
Scoop the potatoes and garlic into a medium (3 quart) saucepan, pour in half of the broth and set over high heat.  When the liquid boils, reduce the heat to medium and simmer briskly until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

When the potatoes are tender, use an immersion blender to puree the soup base (or blend in batches in a food processor or loosely covered blender draped with a kitchen towel and return to the pan).

Add the remaining half of the broth, the mushrooms, poblano, corn and thyme.  Simmer 10 minutes over medium heat.

Just before serving, scoop out about 1/2 cup of the hot soup into a small bowl.  Mix in the yogurt.  Stir the mixture back into the pot, then taste and season with salt, usually about 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons.  Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with cilantro.

I'm sharing this recipe at IHCC