Crab Buttermilk Bisque with Sweet Corn and Bacon

Seamus Foran, chef of Acadia Bistro in Portland, Oregon, shared this recipe for his intensely corn-flavored soup with me after I raved about it one late-summer evening. The chef’s secret for intense corn flavor is to make a quick broth using the cobs. He garnishes the soup with lump crabmeat and crisp bacon, but for a nice vegetarian alternative, you can substitute wild mushrooms, thinly sliced and sautéed in butter until browned and crisp.

The sweetness of the corn