the IMA, Dr. Strangelove & corn soup with tomato and basil

Friday night, we rallied a small group of Kubrick admirers for a trip to the IMA Summer Nights screening of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The weather was perfect. The film was great. And, miraculously, the crowd was relatively small.

The IMA Summer Nights film series represents the best that Indianapolis summers have to offer. On the beautiful grounds of our great art museum, you can watch a movie in an amphitheater surrounded by trees. Movies are $8 per person for non-members and just $3 for museum members.

For me, the experience is not just about the setting and the movies. Unsurprisingly, it's very much about the food. In addition to beverages, our little crew brought along a lovely curry, a pasta salad (with squash!), and a beet salad. I brought a big sandwich, a plum-vodka cocktail, and a pretty little corn soup. Below, you can find the corn soup recipe, which tastes like summer in a bowl to me.

For the picnic, we served the soup in metal mugs.

Recipe: Corn Soup with Tomato & Basil
serves 2 big bowls or 4 little bowls
or 7 teensy servings for a picnic appetizer

2 ears of corn, kernels removed & cobs reserved
1 3/4 cups of milk
1/4 cup of half and half
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 small red potato, diced finely
1 cup of water
1 bay leaf

1 cup chopped tomatoes (cherry, grape, or small tomatoes) - I used a combination of red cherry and small yellow tomatoes from our garden.
1/4 cup basil cut in a chiffonade

Combine the milk, half and half, and corn cobs in a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat another pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add the oil and onion, and saute until translucent but not browned. Add the garlic, cook one minute. Add the celery, carrot, and potato. Cook until the vegetables are tender.

Add the water, the milk and corn cob mixture, the bay leaf, and half of the corn kernels to the vegetable mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the cobs, bay leaf, and thyme sprig and puree the soup. Cook the remaining corn separately on the stovetop (1-2 minutes in boiling water) or in the microwave (1 minute combined with water to cover). Add the corn into the soup.

Ladle the soup into individual containers and top with fresh tomato and basil.