Recipe Makeover

[GMBear]

I have a wonderful recipe for Cream of Asparagus soup. The ingredients are simple, asparagus, cauliflower, onion, vegetable broth and 4 oz of cream cheese. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can substitute for the cream cheese? Thanks.

[Vegankit]

I would try Great Northern, white navy or cannellini beans. When blended these beans make a nice creamy smooth, mild flavored, thick paste that could thicken your soup. Add some nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor and some white vinegar for some tang to make it more cream cheesy. I think white potatoes could also work blended smooth, especially if you are someone who easily tastes beans hidden in food. Both beans and potatoes will help thicken the soup.

[GMBear]

Those are some good suggestions. Thank you very much.

[calvin]

Someone recently mentioned cooking oats for a really long time (in the context of "if they're denatured enough, one might not be sensitive/allergic to them"). I'm not aware of being sensitive to them but tried it anyway out of curiousity, as I've never been patient enough to wait that long. Well, they cook up into a smooth custardy pudding...which might be a delicious soup thickener. Just sayin'.

[Vegankit]

Someone recently mentioned cooking oats for a really long time (in the context of "if they're denatured enough, one might not be sensitive/allergic to them"). I'm not aware of being sensitive to them but tried it anyway out of curiousity, as I've never been patient enough to wait that long. Well, they cook up into a smooth custardy pudding...which might be a delicious soup thickener. Just sayin'.

Calvin, what kind of oats were your cooking? Steel cut? Old fashioned? And how long did you cook them. I like the idea of making an oat pudding.

[AlwaysAgnes]

Someone recently mentioned cooking oats for a really long time (in the context of "if they're denatured enough, one might not be sensitive/allergic to them"). I'm not aware of being sensitive to them but tried it anyway out of curiousity, as I've never been patient enough to wait that long. Well, they cook up into a smooth custardy pudding...which might be a delicious soup thickener. Just sayin'.

Calvin, what kind of oats were your cooking? Steel cut? Old fashioned? And how long did you cook them. I like the idea of making an oat pudding.

Oat cheese would likely work as a cream cheese substitute in soup. Jill McKeever has a recipe. There's a link to that original recipe in this variation by Mrs Plant. http://www.mrsplantintexas.com/2015/06/ ... sauce.html You could flavor it more mild like cream cheese or however you want. It's a good sauce for mac & cheese, too.

Also, if you have some leftover cooked oatmeal, you could add a little lemon juice to that and puree it smooth and then stir that into the soup. You could either leave it pretty plain/basic or maybe add a little nutritional yeast or mild miso. Whatever your individual taste demands.

[Pumpkin Pete]

I believe potatoes or cannellini/butter beans would both work well.

[calvin]

Calvin, what kind of oats were your cooking? Steel cut? Old fashioned? And how long did you cook them. I like the idea of making an oat pudding.

I misremembered it as oats; it is actually millet. But it doesn't matter what complex carbohydrate you use. They're all starch and you're just breaking down the long chain carbos into short chains. How long? Well, if it isn't pudding yet, add water and cook longer. I was cooking on my gas stove, on simmer, with the lid on the small Revere Ware pot, walk away, and just check it in an hour. But my Instant Pot would be the more intelligent tool for this; the lower pressure setting (there are two) might be better. Or a slow cooker. Have to experiment. I use a microwaveable Pyrex cover dish* (i.e. covered cassarole) small enough to fit inside the Instant Pot in order to pressure-cook small recipes, without having to constantly clean the large IP pot, since I don't like making big batches of stuff, and having leftovers that sounded great yesterday but are boring and going bad today, and buying all the containers, freezing stuff, and thawing stuff, etc. But others have different priorities, what with having to work for a living, and families, and schedules...you know, all that annoying stuff that gets in the way of the instant gratification I find so attractive.

*Google "Anchor Ovenware Cassarole"

Try this thread"

Creamy Custardy Irish Oats

[MINNIE]

Thank you Calvin. I am going to try this tonight with some steel cut oats.
I may try millet too. I've used it but just for pilaf type meals.

[Vegankit]

Calvin, I've used millet to make Teasecake which has a remarkable texture very similar to cheesecake and makes a very tasty dessert.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=40577&p=417027&hilit=teasecake#p417027

http://dgmgv.blogspot.com/2007/09/key-l ... ecake.html

[calvin]

Yer makin' me hungrey.

I have now tried pressure cooking millet - bad idea. Several hours and still not broken down to mush. So I put millet in the coffee grinder and made instant fresh-ground millet flour. Bring THAT to a simmer on the stove and you soon have pudding, quick and effortless as making gravy.

Regarding the whole Teasecake thing, could whipped aqua fava be folded in to make a lighter fluffier more-chiffon like pie?
I have yet to experiment with aqua fava but would think you'd have to cooked it down to egg-white consistency before it would whip up. Cuisine chemistry - another pastime.