Harmony and Discord

This is a chilled corn soup garnished with watercress and a shrimp, shishito, and cilantro salad. This is also an exercise in point and counterpoint, harmony and discord. We opened this Fruitman Kitchen to find a some hope and new challenges during the pandemic. In this particular recipe, we balance the sweetness in summer corn and shrimp with the herbal bitterness of watercress and shishito peppers. It is also getting really hot and the Fruitman Kitchen runs without AC, so it’s time we consider some cold recipes that can still help us live vicariously through summers unlike this one. Food is home and food is life. We take a little solace in this chilled out recipe. As Lawrence Weiner posits, a bit of matter and a little bit more.

Total preparation time: 40 minutes active, 1 hour passive, 2 hours to chill
Difficulty: Easy
Pineapples: 5/5 🍍 🍍 🍍 🍍 🍍
Read before committing: It’s OK to hurry and eat before chilled, we won’t judge.

(makes 4 servings)
Ingredients
6 medium ears of corn
1 medium size red onion
2 garlic cloves
1 sprig rosemary
Olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 small bunch cilantro
1/2 lemon
1 bunch watercress
16 medium size peeled, frozen shrimp
25 shishito peppers

Instructions
Grill or bake the corn, but don’t brown, it will muddy the color
Take 4 ears and cut out kernels with a knife, reserve other 2 for later
Reserve 4 corn husks
Mince onions, garlic, and rosemary
In a deep pot, warm up 2 Tablespoons olive oil and 2 Tablespoons butter
Add onions, garlic, and rosemary, cook for 7 minutes
Add kernels of corn, salt and pepper, and cook for 7 more minutes
Add 4 cups of water and corn husks, reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes
Remove corn husks and blend mixture until smooth, refrigerate

On an oven tray, toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper and broil shrimp, shishito peppers, and the 2 reserved ears of corn, about 10 minutes
Remove tails from shrimp and cut shishitos peppers in small sections, add to empty bowl
Cut off kernels of broiled corn and add to bowl
Cut cilantro in small pieces and add to bowl
Squeeze out the juice of 1/2 lemon and mix everything together.
Pour the chilled corn soup in a bowl and garnish with chili flakes, the newly tossed mixture and fresh watercress.
Chill out and enjoy.