SatNavSaysStraightOn

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This is another of our old favourites from the long since deceased BBC Vegetarian Good food magazine which ceased publication back in the 90's!


If you are making a dairy free version then you have a couple of options but by far the best tasting is to switch to homemade cashew nut milk and switch the fromage frais for plain unsweetened soy yoghurt & a tad of lime juice. Soy milk would be the next best option because it generally doesn't split when heated which is important. Almond milk has a tendancy to split when heated so I generally avoid using it. The lime juice just breaks through with a little acidity helping the texture and flavour and is an important addition.

Ingredients (Serves 8)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
450g potatoes diced (5mm dice)
1 large onion diced (5mm dice)
1 red pepper diced (5mm dice)
1 green pepper diced (5mm dice)
450g sweetcorn (I use frozen)
1L dairy milk (or water if going dairy free).
150g fromage frais (or 200g cashew nuts, 150g plain soy yoghurt & 15ml lime juice if going dairy free)
1 tbsp cornflour
salt & pepper

Method (Dairy Version)
  1. heat the oil in a large pan and fry the potatoes & onions for 2-3 minutes. Add the peppers and fry for another 2-3 minutes
  2. Add the sweetcorn and the milk (if using a non-dairy milk see note) and enough water to cover the veg. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Remove from the heat
  3. If using fromage frais, mix with the cornflour and stir in a little at a time, mixing well. Bring back to the boll and summer for a few minutes to cook the cornstarch/cornflour and thicken the chowder. Season & serve.
Note.
If you are using a non-dairy milk, and the alternative to fromage frais, you need to modify the cooking slightly.

Method (Non-dairy Version)
  1. heat the oil in a large pan and fry the potatoes & onions for 2-3 minutes. Add the peppers and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
  2. Put the cashew nuts and the water into the bowl of your blender (Vitaminx) and puree/liquidise until you have a totally smooth creamy milk.
  3. Add the sweetcorn and the non-dairy milk/cashew mixture and enough additional water to cover the veg. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Remove from the heat.
  4. Mix the cornflour into the non-dairy youghurt and stir in a little at a time, mixing well. Bring back to the boil and simmer for a few minutes to cook the cornstarch/cornflour and thicken the chowder. Add the lime juice, season well & serve.
 
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Coincidentally I cooked a vegetable chowder for the current (yoghurt) challenge. Unfortunately it looked like... well, let us say it didn't look appealing. so I didn't enter it. It also tasted rather sickly to me..

I'm not saying yours is like that though!
 
This is one we've really liked from the very first time we tried it, back in the days when I found have goats milk and fromage frais. It's a really easy, simple dish that just works. Coming up with the dairy free version has been much harder. I'm expecting to cook it on Sunday, so I'll try for some photos then.
 
Coincidentally I cooked a vegetable chowder for the current (yoghurt) challenge. Unfortunately it looked like... well, let us say it didn't look appealing. so I didn't enter it. It also tasted rather sickly to me..

I'm not saying yours is like that though!
No it wasn't sickly at all.

I've found that making it with cashew milk is a great substitute for the creamy effect fromage frais and dairy milk has on the chowder. Adding plain, unsweetened soy yoghurt (in my case homemade) and 1tbsp of lime juice just cuts through the clingy cloyie texture and is to date the closest alternative to fromage frais that I've come across. Either way, cooking things in the cashew milk and diluting as needed works really well as a creamy replaced in so many dishes.

I do have a photo, but the presentation isn't good and in addition, the chowder was a little too thick, so I've since thinned it with water which improved it.


I just need to try for a better photo later today, after knitting club.
 
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