SERVES 4

110 g | 4 oz rindless streaky bacon, chopped
30 g | 1 oz butter
3 sticks of celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large yellow pepper, cored, deseeded and finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 large potato, peeled and diced
30 g | 1 oz plain flour
570 ml | 1 pint milk
4 ears of boiled sweetcorn or 340 g | 12 oz cooked sweetcorn kernels
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Garnish
chopped fresh parsley

1. Fry the bacon in the butter. When brown but not crisp add the celery, onion, yellow pepper and bay leaf. Reduce the heat and cook slowly until the onion looks soft and transparent. Add the potato after 5 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from pan heat; mix in the flour, cook for 1 minute and then add the milk.
3. Return the pan from the heat; stir until boiling.
4. Cut the kernels from the ears and add them to the soup. Scrape the cobs with a sharp knife to extract all the juice and add this too. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not broken. Remove the bay leaf and discard.
5. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Wine: DRY WHITE

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Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]