Curried Broccoli-Cauliflower Soup with White Cheddar

I am heading out of town in a few days, and I wanted something to eat this week that would be readily available and somewhat detoxifying, as I know calorie-laden food will probably abound while I’m on vacation.  I settled on broccoli soup, akin to the one in this post, but as I contemplated my plan of attack, the recipe evolved throughout the day, into a new and blog-worthy form.  Initially, it was supposed to be the vision of simplicity: broccoli, onion, and potato, simmered in chicken broth, then pureed and finished with a little white cheddar, but this beast had a mind of its own.  First, I thought that cauliflower would be a welcome addition.  Then, while skimming through Google searches for recipes, the word “curry” seemed to leap off my computer screen, and land squarely in my mouth.  My dinner’s direction and suddenly become very clear.

The truth is: the smell of curry powder destroys me: mystifying, intoxicating, delightful.  This reaction may seem extreme, but perhaps you have never experienced the aroma that ensues when curry powder hits a hot pan.  Or maybe you weren’t paying attention.  It is one of those instances when the whole exceeds the sum of its parts.  I love foods that fall under this category, as it is truly the magic of cooking; a great pot of soup and other slow cooked dishes tend to spring to mind, as I ponder this notion.  What could be more fitting that a curried soup?  My most recent jar of curry powder (curry powder must be fresh) had a detailed list of ingredients, relative to the other available brands of curry, whose ingredient lists’ consisted vaguely of “turmeric and other spices.”  The jar I purchased included fenugreek, coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, amongst other things.  I was pleased to have access to the list, and tried to engage in a little sniff test to see what I could identify; yet, all I could do was deeply inhale and smell the whole earthy combination.  I nearly chocked a couple of times, but it was worth it.

The recipe that resulted from all this excessive thought is a winner for more reasons than one.  First of all, I started the right way: with butter.  This soup is essentially a big bowl of pureed vegetables, and I felt that it needed the rich boost in its base that only butter can provide.  Well, that and bacon fat, but that’s sort of crossing a line when it comes to being considered “vegetarian.”  Regardless of semantics, butter provided a richness in both texture and flavor that was the right fit.  Onion and garlic were then sautéed in the frothy butter foam, until tender; curry powder, nutmeg, and a little cayenne were then lightly toasted in the buttery onions.  Next came the cauliflower and small-diced potato, with just enough broth to cover.  The potato is only there for body, so dice it fine, allowing it to disappear into the soup.  Additionally, it’s crucial to not use excess broth because that will make this pureed veggie soup seem unsatisfying.  After a few minutes, I threw in the broccoli and a touch more broth, and allowed everything to become soft and unctuous.  I whirred the veggie concoction together with my favorite toy, my immersion blender, until it was smooth, with a few stray pieces of curry-stained cauliflower.  A bay leaf would have been a nice touch, but I was too twitterpated by the aroma of the curry powder, and it just slipped my mind. 

I finished the soup with cheese: a sturdy, sharp white cheddar.  Cheese may seem a little off-putting in conjunction with curry; however, the soup needed some sort of salty, creamy, savory element to round out the flavors, soften the edges, and bring them together.  Cream certainly would have been the more obvious choice, and could easily by substituted with about a quarter to a half-cup, but cheese is a clear favorite in my book.  I also think the sharpness of the cheddar adds depth, and a little “je ne said quoi.”  On night two, I actually bedazzeled my soup bowl with a lightly fried egg with a runny yolk.  Delicious.

Curried Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup with White Cheddar

2 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2-3 teaspoons curry powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 large russet potato, peeled and diced

4 cups reduced sodium chicken stock

1 small head broccoli, cut into florets

2 teaspoons honey

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or lemon juice

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar

Toasted pine nuts for garnish (optional)

-       In a large soup pot, preheat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat

-       Once butter has melted, add onion, and season with salt and pepper.  Sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened, about 8 minutes

-       Add garlic, curry, cayenne, and nutmeg.  Sauté for about 1 minute

-       Add cauliflower, potato, and enough chicken stock to just cover the vegetables.

-       Bring to a boil, and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. 

-       Then add broccoli, and simmer until all vegetables are very tender.

-       Puree with am immersion blender until smooth, with a few stray chunks of cauliflower.

-       In the soup bowl, serve soup with a couple of tablespoons shredded white cheddar, stirred in so that it melts.  Garnish with additional cheese, toasted pine nuts, and/or a poached or over easy egg.

Curried Chicken and Napa Cabbage Stir Fry

As the semester winds down, the intensity of school only accelerates.  For a normal human being, this would result in simplified cooking, or picking up sandwiches.  Not the Psycho Cooker.  This week, a massive neuroscience exam was my most significant burden; I now know the difference between the medial and lateral geniculate bodies of the thalamus, and some of their subsystems.  Please, curb your rampant jealousy; I can sense it from here.  I promise, it wasn’t quite as much fun as it sounds.  In the midst of studying, I decided that making a stir-fry was mandatory for both my physical and mental health.  Besides, I had half of a Napa cabbage that I couldn’t bear to waste.  Thus, my reward for memorizing thalamic nuclei was cooking, even if the pan didn’t start sizzling until 10 o’clock at night.  I’m sure my neighbors were thrilled to have the smell of curry wafting through their apartments as they got ready for bed. 

Curried Chicken and Napa Cabbage Stir-fry (adapted from Marc Bittman’s recipe)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided

1 tablespoon garlic, minced, divided

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated, divided

Handful of chopped scallions

About 3 cups shredded Napa cabbage (about a pound)

6 button mushrooms, sliced (about ¼ pound)

½ cup frozen peas, thawed (just let them sit out during cooking)

½ pound chicken breast, chopped in about ½ inch cubes

about a tablespoon curry powder (optional)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Hefty drizzle of Sriracha* (only if you want it spicy; I probably used a couple teaspoons)

Toss chicken with curry powder (if using) and set aside.

Next prep the rest of the ingredients so the stir-fry can be prepared smoothly (this is called “mise en place*”).

Heat half of the oil over high heat for 3-4 minutes. 

Reduce heat to medium-high and add half of garlic and ginger.  Give the pan a quick shake to distribute, and immediately add the mushrooms, scallions, and cabbage.  Allow to cook for 5-8 minutes, until cabbage and mushrooms have softened.  Remove vegetables from pan.

Add the rest of oil, garlic, and ginger to pan.  Allow to cook for a few seconds, and add the chicken.  Allow to cook for 5-8 minutes, or until cooked through.  Then add the peas, cabbage mixture, soy sauce, and Sriracha.  Toss to combine.  If the mixture looks dry, add about a ¼ cup of water.  Eat as is, or over white or brown rice.

Comments:  This. Was. Fantastic.  The delirium of the eons spent at the library probably augmented this, but I’m pretty sure I would enjoy it any night of the week.  Next time, I might double the cabbage and mushrooms; they were that tasty.  Tofu would have been sublime in this (curried, seared tofu: what could be bad?), but I did enjoy the heartiness of the chicken.  If you’re not a fan of curry, leave it out.  The ginger, garlic, and soy will bestow enough flavor.  However, I LOVED the curry.  This is only the second time I’ve actually cooked with it, and I find that it makes food intensely fragrant, but not overpowering on the flavor front.  When it hits the pan, it’s like getting an olfactory hug.  In fact, I may start carrying around a vile of curry powder and take whiff when I am stressed.  Perhaps it exists in an eau de toilette. 

Being a cheerleader for carbohydrates, I served this over white rice.  Brown rice would have been my first choice, but it needs about hour to cook at this altitude and I didn’t have that kind of time.  However, once I had my first bite, I realized that this dish would have been utterly perfect without any rice at all.  This is a bold statement as there are few low-carb dishes that I find palatable.  The best thing about this dish is that you could apply the technique to other quick-cooking vegetables and proteins, and switch up the flavors to make an infinite array of healthful and delicious stir-fry options.  There will definitely be more to come in the psycho-kitchen.

*See glossary for definitions

My First Curry

Indian food seems to be one of my culinary blind spots.  Between my parents’ love of food, my cooking pursuits, and my years of waitressing, I have been exposed to a lot in the world of food.  Somehow, Indian cuisine has not been a part of that.  My brother took me to an “all you can eat” Indian buffet for lunch once; maybe that turned me off.  Nonetheless, this entire cuisine is a mystery to me, and lately this lack of knowledge has been nagging at me. 

I started doing a little research on curry.  It seemed like a good place to start.  After evaluating Mark Bittman’s* recipe for all-purpose curry powder, I realized that the flavor isn’t as unfamiliar to me as I originally thought.  Peppercorns, cumin, coriander, ginger, and turmeric: what could be bad?  While I wasn’t quite ready to embark on constructing my own curry powder, it seemed time to tackle cooking a curry. 

Within a week or so of being in Boulder, I stumbled across some curry powder on sale, and it seemed like fate.  The purchase of the curry powder occurred about a month ago, and every weekend I say I’m going to make a curry, yet it doesn’t come to pass.  Whenever I open my pantry, the yellow curry powder seems to glow brighter, staring me down out of resentment and neglect.  Finally, last weekend, I took the leap.  I combined my own instincts with another Mark Bittman recipe and a Martha Stuart recipe to create the concoction mapped out below (forgive my recipe-writing skills, I’m a novice). 

Recipe:

·     In a large, deep skillet, brown 1 ½ pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs in about 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium-high heat.  When browned (after a couple of minutes), but not cooked through, remove from the pan, and set aside. 

·     Remove oil from the pan until a tablespoon or so remains.  Lower the heat to medium and sauté one medium onion, chopped with 2 cloves of minced garlic and a couple of teaspoons of grated ginger.  Season with salt and pepper. 

·     When the onion has softened, add about a tablespoon of curry powder.  Sauté for one minute.  Add about ½ pound of coarsely chopped red bliss potatoes and 1 cup of water.  Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, until potatoes start to become tender, but are not cooked through. 

·    Add ½ pound chopped cauliflower, 1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes, and chicken thighs.  Stir, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes until chicken and vegetables are cooked through. 

·    Add about ½ cup of frozen peas.  Allow to heat through, and serve over rice, rice pilaf, or couscous. 

If there is an excess of sauce, increase the heat and let it reduce for a few minutes.  The beauty of the chicken thighs is it won’t dry out.  I like to buy them at Whole Foods.  Because it’s dark meat, they are still reasonably priced, and all you need to do is eat them once to see the difference in quality (texture, flavor, and color) of a Whole Foods chicken thigh compared to a regular supermarket chicken thigh. 

The Outcome:

At first, I was disappointed.  I was under the impression that curry was spicy, and this was not even in the neighborhood of spicy.  So I did something that is no doubt sacrilegious to anyone in the know regarding Indian cooking:  I doused it with Sriracha* and soy sauce, and I dug in.  After my little makeover, I loved it.  Next time, I will add some cayenne pepper with the curry powder and be a little more liberal with the salt.  Overall, I ended up really enjoying this dish.  The flavor continued to improve, and it made a huge quantity, so it kept me happily fed for a few days.  But I must admit, I continued the use of my contextually inappropriate condiments. 

*See glossary