Category: Culinary Arts

Creamy Soup Is Possible, Without the Cream

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There are few things on earth as comforting as the sound and smell of a pot of soup simmering away on the stove. While light brothy soups like chicken noodles or minestrone have their place, indulgent, creamy soups are where it’s at for cold-weather meals that feel like a hug from a best friend. This often means dairy, like cream, milk, cheese and butter. But if your fridge isn’t stocked, you’d like some added flavor, or you’re just looking to avoid the dairy, you’ve got plenty of options for the silky, velvety soup of your dreams. Let’s get into it.

Add legumes.

Quick-cooking pulses like split yellow peas, red lentils, and split mung beans break down into fall-apartness starch in 15–20 minutes, lending body and creaminess to brothy soups in a pinch. Think of the comfort of a steamy bowl of dal, or the hearty mushiness of diner lentil soup. Add ¼ cup pulses of your choice to any boiling pot of soup, then let it simmer until the grains can be easily squished on the back of a spoon. Stick to smaller pulses here—larger beans like canned kidney and black beans can certainly add starchiness, but you’ll need to crank out your immersion blender to incorporate (more on that later).

Add coconut milk.

Other plant-based milks can get the job done, but there’s something special about the richness of full-fat coconut milk. If you’re not a fan of coconut-y flavor, this is (obviously) not the move—it’s difficult to mask the fruity nuttiness. But if you’re pro coconut, stay stocked on unsweetened cans to whip up Coconut Lentil Soup, or Coconut-Ginger Chickpea Soup that you can make almost entirely from pantry ingredients. (Note: Skip low-fat coconut milk, which is too diluted, and coconut cream, which is harder to incorporate.)

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Vegan Coconut Lentil Soup

The most flavorful, hearty, and warming meal you’ve ever made with (almost) exclusively pantry staples.

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Add sesame paste.

For tantanmen-inspired soup, add toasted sesame paste for a nutty, earthy flavor with just as much fattiness as a pour of heavy cream. It could be tahini, zhīmajiàng, or neri goma, whatever you have around. While you’re sauteeing your alliums and aromatics, stir in a spoonful of sesame paste to melt it all together. Then add your water or broth—the sesame paste will dissolve into it, and create a rich base for noodles, vegetables and tofu. Sesame can stand up to robust flavors, so raid your pantry for sambal, harissa, or curry paste to add to the mix, like this Creamy Curry Egg Noodle Soup.

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Add rice.

Take a page of comforting porridges like jook or congee, and add ¼–½ cup rice to your soup for starchiness that fortifies the broth and clings to your spoon. Give the grains a quick rinse, then stir in while the soup is simmering, cooking until the rice is tender all the way through, about 15–20 minutes. Short-to medium-grain white rice is key here for maximum creaminess: Use uruchimai (Japanese short-grain), bomba (Spanish short-grain), Calrose, or arborio rice. (Long-grain rice has a lower starch content that won’t lend enough creaminess to your soup, so save the basmati for fluffy biryani or Mejadara instead.)

Make cashew cream.

This Hetty Lui McKinnon recipe for cashew cream skips the long overnight soak. When you start your soup, add raw cashews to boiling water in a separate pot. In 30 minutes, your soaked nuts are ready to blend. Pour the cashew cream directly into the other ingredients, then purée everything together. This broccoli soup uses no dairy, relying on cashew cream for its silky texture and buttery flavor.

Creamy Soup Is Possible Without the Cream
Broccoli and Cashew Cream Soup

Unintentionally vegan but very easy to love—this simple and tasty broccoli soup belongs in your weekly dinner rotation.

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Blend your soup.

For the speediest way to achieve a creamy texture without cream, turn to your immersion blender. If your soup has any starchy vegetables, like beans, corn, potatoes, squash, or carrots, it’s as easy as using your immersion blender, and giving it a whirl until you’ve reached your desired consistency. Even non-starchy vegetables like greens, tomatoes, and alliums can achieve a smooth, slurpable texture after they’re blended up. No immersion blender? Scoop about a third of the soup into a blender and give it a blitz before adding it back to the pot. And you didn’t even have to scour your pantry for any additional ingredients.

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Bombay Potato Croquettes | Easy Bombay Potato Croquette Recipe

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bombaypotatocroquettesrecipe

Daniel Harding

Fusion cooking creations can be hit or miss. But this recipe manages to marry a Spanish and Indian classic that results in a crunchy, unique tasting dish that works perfectly.

Our Bombay potato center is flavored with a rich, aromatic curry sauce that’s packed full of tasty aromatics. Giving these little mouth fulls a good old spicy punch. Rolled in egg and panko breadcrumbs, they are then fried or baked for a crunchtastic coating and floral potato center.

Trust us – if you’re into Bombay potatoes, you have to give these a go.

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Makes:

16

Prep Time:

0

hours

15

min

Cook Time:

1

hour

40

min

Total Time:

1

hour

55

min

For the curry base

25 g

ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2


onions, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp.

ground coriander

2


plum tomatoes, roughly chopped

For the Bombay potatoes

800 g

waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 3 cm pieces
3


cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp.

ground coriander
1


tomatoes, roughly chopped

handful chopped coriander, roughly chopped

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For the curry sauce base

  1. Heat the water in a large saucepan. Add all the ingredients apart from the tomatoes, cover with a lid and simmer for 45 minutes or until the onions become very soft.
  2. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes.
  3. Remove from the heat and blend to a smooth consistency using a blender. This is now your simple curry base. You will have more than you need but it can be frozen for future recipes.

For the Bombay croquettes

  1. In a large pan of boiling water, add your potatoes and turmeric. Simmer for approx 20 minutes or until just tender but not falling apart. Drain and allow to cool.
  2. In a heavy-based frying pan heat 4tbsp oil over medium heat. Add your cooked potatoes and fry until starting to brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
  3. In the same pan, add the remaining 2tbsp oil, onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook gently until soft but not browning.
  4. Add all the spices and fry for around 30 seconds or until the spices begin to darken.
  5. Add tomato puree and turn up the heat to slightly caramelize the onions and tomato puree, this should take around 3 minutes.
  6. Next, add 300ml of curry sauce base and cook slowly allowing it to reduce.
  7. Add the reserved potatoes, along with chopped tomatoes, and cook on low for 5min, until the potatoes are heated through. Finish with a handful of coriander.
  8. Spread onto an oven tray, crush some of the potatoes to help form them together, and cool in the fridge overnight.
  9. Set up your crumbling station as followed. A bowl with 3 beaten eggs, a bowl of flour and a bowl of breadcrumbs. Remove the tray from the fridge and divide into 16 portions.
  10. Roll each portion into an oblong shape.
  11. Coat in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, using alternate hands to ensure you don’t crumb your fingers.
  12. Heat your oil to 170°C. Working in batches to not overcrowd your fryer, cook for 4mins, then remove and raise the temperature to 190ºC and cook again for 1min or use crispy and golden. Serve & enjoy!

Want to cook our bad boy croquettes in the oven? Cook in the oven at 180°c for 25mins and then 200ºC for 6mins until crisp.

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This is the First Meal Cameron Diaz Cooked for Benji Madden

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published about 4 hours ago

Two of Charlie’s Angels found themselves taking on a new mission together this week, as actress Cameron Diaz joined bestie and talk show host, Drew Barrymore, on Wednesday’s episode of the latter’s eponymous daytime talk show. Channeling true “besties in the kitchen” energy, the pair gave us a peek at their relationship and revealed Diaz’s most coveted kitchen recipe — which happened to be the special addition to the first meal she made for her now-husband (and Good Charlotte guitarist /vocalist), Benji Madden.

The entire back and forth of giggling through Hollywood-normal memories took place while Diaz demonstrated her recipe for what she calls “Shallot Gold,” a dish which Barrymore noted was pretty much the only reason she and Diaz’s friends ever came over to visit. “She’s going to show us how to make literally something that none of us ever want to come over to the house without it being prepared,” Barrymore said.

But let you get your hopes up for some new recipe that will knock Alison Roman’s shallot pasta off its throne, shallot gold is quite literally just caramelized shallots. Sure, Diaz gives a few tips — like adding a bit of salt to your shallots as they cook down to drive off more of the allium’s water content and coax out the sugars — but at the end of the day, the true key to shallot gold is time.

As evidenced by Diaz reaching for a pan of previously caramelized shallots to put over the roast chicken that miraculously appeared on set (TV magic!), the only way to make shallot gold is to sit there and let those shallots cook down. Caramelization is a wonderful process that does not comply with the time constraints of a television cooking segment. At the end of the day, though, the true treasure in Diaz’s shallot gold might just be the chance to reminisce with a friend during the time it takes for those shallots to transform into caramelized perfection.

So what about that dish she made for her current husband on their first date? Lamb chops, of course. “Mediterranean lamb chops, some couscous, and some broccoli and sautéed zucchini,” Diaz told the audience after Barrymore urged her to reveal the meal. And in case you’re wondering, the shallot gold was mixed in with the couscous.

The entire segment, however, is one to watch, with the pair discussing everything from Gwyneth Paltrow’s disappointment in Barrymore’s previous home’s oven to dual diving experiences — both sky and scuba, the latter of which took place in Tahiti with curious sharks. Much in the vein of other celebrity friends cooking together for television (think: Ina and Faith Hill), the two icons give viewers a show to remember with personal touches that will make anyone feel at home.

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