A Reader Writes: Corn Chowder Recipe?

From a faithful reader (and old college pal) in Kansas City:

"I saw a great corn chowder recipe that included shrimp and used an immersion blender recently. Can't find it now. Thought maybe you or your friends might know of it or a good one!"

Any help for our corn-chowder making friend?

Three Latest and Best

And now, in case you're getting a little sick of hearing about foie gras, we return you to your regularly scheduled snark-a-licious restaurant programming. And while I may have been grossing out some of you vegetarians -- and flexitarians -- here are a few notes for you eaters of sea creatures. Three Latest and Best -- The All-Crustacean Edition!

Shrimp-tastic Burgers at Alcatraz: Wednesday, we attended the launch of a new menu at Alcatraz Brewing Company downtown at Circle Center Mall. Alcatraz has been in Indianapolis for nearly 10 years, once part of a chain but now with only two remaining locations. While I was all excited that we might have a good chef coming to town to run the operation, we found that Tavistock, the corporation that owns Alcatraz as well as quite a few other decent eateries around the US, has a new corporate chef, Bobby Varua, who will be based in Chicago. He's redone the menu at Alcatraz but won't be on site day-to-day. So, while the bad news is that we have yet another absentee landlord for a not-quite-a-chain restaurant trying to make it, the good news is that the menu is really pretty good. My favorite? The Shrimp Burgers -- think crab-cakes-with-shrimp, think deep-fried, think sweet sauce on a soft bun. Also good were the flatbreads, oh, and the cocktails.

I Love Shrimp Tempura Rolls: While one doesn't always associate Fishers with good sushi, their new little place, I Love Sushi! is getting good press. Right on 116th across from the Nickle Plate, look for decent lunch specials with an assortment of nigiri, maki, miso soup, and salad. My favorite? What they called "white fish" and a shrimp tempura roll even though it was garnished with eel sauce. But on a cool and rainy day? The miso soup hit the spot.

Shrimp, Lobster, They all Have Tails: Check out the winning soup from the Indianapolis Dine magazine Best Soup in Indy competition. Sure, it's been a Karl Benko love fest around here lately, but I can't miss a mention of his superb lobster bisque with his housemade infused oils and perfectly cooked lobster. The soup from Peterson's was the clear winner in two days of tasting nearly 70 entries. My favorites were also the two winners from Brix (the coconut curry and BLT) and the tomato bisque from Ripple Bagel and Deli. (What I won't do for the craft. Just order me the ba-donk-a-donk-butt, extra flabby, with the side of thunder thighs.)

Two-Minute Warning: Oh, where to begin, dearest Vitesse. Before, while your food was found lacking, you were a warm hotel lobby bar, a beacon in the night, never crowded until you had loud "jazz" music. Now you are but a hotel coffee shop. Gone are the cushy chairs. Gone are the comfortable couches grouped around the faux fire. Gone are the lengthy wine lists and considerate waiters. Oh, wait. You didn't have that before. But, still, gone are the dishes that at least *tried* to pretend they belonged in a swanky-wanna-be downtown bar. Vitesse, we hardly knew you. OK, we knew you and didn't like you very much, but we liked you better then.

More Soup for You! Tasting for Dine

I've finally recovered from all the soup we tasted last week while judging Dine Magazine's Best of Indy. While I can't give away any advance information, the experience was a great course on the basics of what makes great soup --and more importantly, how many ways there are to screw it up. Soup isn't easy to make. Great soup is a subtle art and one of the hardest dishes for home cooks and professional chefs to learn correctly. Even great chefs get nervous when they can't oversee every aspect of its preparation and presentation. But as we learned last week, a technically correct soup can travel, be rewarmed, garnished and present incredibly well even without a chef on site supervising (or "soup"-ervising, as it were). In the end, quality and technique will out every time. We were very impressed with the wide range of establishments who did great soup and the wide variety of soups we tasted -- everything from delicate purees and broths to hearty chowders and chilies.

How did it work? We scored each soup on a 100-point scale with differently weighted categories for appearance, aroma, texture/consistency, flavor, and overall impression. While you'll have to read the upcoming Dine issue for the individual best soups, I can describe what I felt were the most ongoing, consistent problems we saw in the roughly 75 soups we judged:

* Too much salt! I'm a believer that most soup is woefully undersalted, but my o my did we a taste a lot of soup that was so salty, the original flavor of the ingredients was completely lost. The problems were most prevalent in bisques (the omnipresent over-salted lobster bisque), cream soups, and soups involving potatoes. When you're spicing, try backing off just a bit to let the real flavor come through. Keep in mind if your natural ingredients are already heavy in salt.

* Too much heat! Who says Hoosiers don't like spicy food. I was amazed by the prevalence of hot spice in the vast majority of soups we tasted, many too spicy to eat. I have nothing against peppers -- from cayenne to poblano -- but once you're gone too far spicing your soup with heat, there's nothing that can be done. Always go easy on the spice -- and keep cleansing your palatte between tastings if you're adjusting for heat. Your own tongue can get coated and you become oblivious to a flavor that will be most unenjoyable for your guests. (Also remember that if you have allergies or smoke, your taste buds may be dulled. Have someone else check it out for you.)

*Not enough of a flavor base to hold heat: If you're going to add heat to your soup whether fresh, roasted, or powdered chilies, you must have a flavor base that will hold it such as a sweetness. Sweet isn't the only option, savory can work too, but you need a base to hold the spice and give it depth. Otherwise, you just get a flat, unpleasant hotness.

*Out of season ingredients: Be aware that corn in the winter isn't going to be as sweet as fresh corn in summer, so it's going to affect your corn chowder. Asparagus isn't as flavorful, and artichokes aren't even available. Tomatoes can be found, but you have to be careful. Try to use in-season veggies for your seasonal soups. Ironically? For all the corn, tomato, and other vegetable soups we tried, we had very few if any squash, pumpkin, or zucchini-based soups.

*Canned ingredients, why? Why would you use canned anything in a soup for a competition? Tomatoes are mush, artichokes are too tangy, and beans are soft. Also, appearance matters. You're soup doesn't have to look like it was styled for Food and Wine, but it should be visually appealing. I should want to eat it! You'd be amazed at how many soups were just an unappetizing mess. Looks do matter!

*Additions: It's always great to add things to your soup but be aware of how they're cooked and how it will work with the flavors you already have. Meat and seafood should be cooked in such as way that it doesn't become tough. Pasta should be cooked then added (not cooked in the broth) and remember that how you deal with potatoes affects the amount of starch they release that can make your soup a sticky, gummy mess. If what you add, such as mushrooms or a cracker have flavor, make sure they compliment that of your soup. What that flavors blend, not clash.

*Soup is Not a Side Dish: It is also not a dip, gravy, or enchilada sauce. Your soup should be the consistency of soup, spoonable and liquid, even if it's a hearty dish like a chowder or baked potato soup. If it stays in the spoon when you try to put it in the bowl, it's technically not really a soup, no matter what you call it on the menu.

All these issues aside, we tasted an amazing number of soups from chefs all over the city and there were some stand-out stars from restaurants large and small. Thanks to all the hard working chefs who entered and thanks to the folks at Dine for asking me to judge. It was a real treat! (Although I'm glad I wasn't tapped to taste mashed potatoes or chicken wings.)

Speaking of Tasting -- Indy's Best Soup

This past couple of weeks has been a whirlwind of tastings, some my first as a judge. While it can be odd, I found that drawing on a structured points system has been a great way to use all this useless culinary knowledge. Last week, I was honored to judge wines on a panel put together by Chef Thom England at Ivy Tech, and this week, I've been one of four judges rating soup for the upcoming Dine Magazine Best of Indy. Not only have we had some interesting and delicious soups, but we've learned to pace ourselves. We'll have tasted nearly 90 soups, stews, broths, chilis, chowders, and purees by the end of this afternoon. Thanks for Dine for asking and also Chef Tony Hanslits at the brand spanking new Chef's Academy for hosting us.

(And, for those who are asking, yes, it's difficult to taste so much soup! Over a four hour period yesterdat, we tasted, rated, scored, then sipped water -- because soup can be salty! We're were all stuffed at the end. On the other hand, soup is good for you, right?)