Green Chile Creamed Corn

Roast the chiles over high heat on a charcoal grill or a gas burner on a stove until the skins are blackened. Immediately place them in a plastic bag. Leave it on the counter for 30 minutes to continue cooking by steaming from the residual heat. Remove the chiles from the bag, scrape the blackened skins off of the outside, and remove the seeds. Finely dice the chiles and reserve. (You can purchase pre-roasted Hatch chiles from ziagreenchileco.com.)

Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Slice the corn on a mandolin set to 1/8-inch slicing thickness by running the corn across the blade to create 1/8-inch slices of corn. If you do not have a mandolin, use a peeler to cut corn off the cob in gradual strokes until you feel resistance from the cob. With a spoon, scrape the cream of the corn (the juice left behind from kernels) off the cobs and reserve. Save the cobs for corn stock.

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté it for just a few seconds, until the garlic is toasted, then add the onions. Gently cook the onions until translucent, about two minutes. Add the sliced corn and cream of corn and gently cook the mixture for two minutes. You don’t want the corn to color. Add the corn stock, increase the heat to high, and reduce the stock to about one cup, about five minutes. Add the heavy cream and reduce it until you have a sauce that glazes the corn, about five minutes. Turn off the heat and fold in the Fontina and reserved chiles. Add salt to taste.

For the corn stock:

Combine all ingredients in a stockpot and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Simmer for one hour, reducing the heat if necessary to prevent boiling. Strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a heatproof container. Discard the solids and cool to room temperature. Covered, it will keep in the refrigerator for five days.