The acid in the coke must make those super tender! Mmm.
I made a killer vegan corn chowder tonight. The ideal late summer/early fall meal; so warming. As always, measurements are approximate, as I'll be damned if I'm going to measure anything in the kitchen.
oil for frying (I used coconut; canola, light olive, corn or peanut would all work fine)
2 onions
2 star anise
6 cloves garlic
6 ears fresh corn, kernels removed and the cobs cut into ca. 2" lengths
2 L veg stock, plus more to dilute if necessary
2 medium-large potatoes, well-scrubbed and diced; I used starchy reds because that's what I had on hand, but nice, waxy Yukon Golds would be killer here
2 cups cashew cream
oregano oil (or a lot of oregano; I like the oil as it doesn't mess up the colour or consistency)
dressing oil, nice bread, one more garlic clove (to finish)
Begin by sweating off the onions in the bottom of a large pot. I used a pressure cooker, both to save time and improve flavour; a conventional pot can be used, but add a couple of hours for simmering the cobs. Seriously. Anyway, once the onions are starting to get a bit of colour, throw in the garlic (minced first, forgot to mention that) and anise and toss for about 30 seconds. The licorice flavour doesn't overpower, and interacts really well with the onions and garlic to add some incredible depth of flavour. It can be omitted easily enough though, but try it out sometime.
Add in the cobs, half of the stock and a small handful of the kernels. Seal the pressure cooker and cook at 2nd ring (15 psi) for 15-20 minutes. Open the pot using the fast cooling method (or natural cooling if you're patient and want a less cloudy broth, but that's moot here as you'll see in a bit). If you're using a conventional pot, here's where the two hours come in: simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. For either method, once the cooking time here is done, remove the cobs, add the diced potato and half of the remaining kernels and bring the broth back up to a gentle boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender, then blend until smooth using a hand blender or in a conventional blender in batches. There will still be some texture; if you're anal you can strain it, but eff that-- a good soup should have texture.
With the blended soup in the pot, adjust seasoning as required with salt and copious freshly ground black pepper. Add in a solid dropper-full of oregano oil and stir well. Add in the cashew cream and adjust the thickness if required with more stock (it'll likely be required). Let it sit in the warm pot until at the right temperature to eat, stir once more and adjust seasoning again. To serve, ladle generously into bowls (don't be a miser; it's cold out), drizzle with a bit of nice dressing oil (I used Udo's oil blend, but a nice, complex extra virgin olive oil would be grand), add a few cracks of black pepper, a sprinking of the remaining kernels and serve with the nice bread lightly toasted and rubbed with a cut clove of garlic for great justice!
So, what the flying frack is cashew cream you ask? It's a dead easy whole food substitute for dairy cream that is wonderfully rich and healthy as it has a good amount of both protein and plant fats. All you do to make it is soak some raw cashews in some water for at least 4 hours (at room temp) or ideally overnight (probably best to refrigerate). Drain and rinse well, then blend in a high speed blender with more fresh water (start with a 1:1 volume ratio of nuts:water) until silky smooth. If you've got a cheper blender, it might stay a bit gritty, in which case you can just strain it for a delicious light oil. If you've got a killer blender, then it can be used as is; if there's less water in it then it can be used as a heavy cream, and substituted even for creme fraiche in sauces. If a 'normal' cream is required, just dilute with fresh water to get the right consistency. Keeps well in the fridge.
), so I'm doing it up until the braise step tonight. Basically, once it comes out of the screaming hot oven, I'll deglaze the whole thing with a bunch of wine and stock (
