Nut Chowder
1/2 cup diced potato 1 tablespoon diced onion 1/2 tablespoon oil or butter 3/4 cup water 1 1/2 cups hot milk 1/3 cup diced nut cheese 1/2 teaspoon salt Cook the onion in the oil till tender. Add the water and potato, and cook till the potato is tender. Add remaining ingredients.
A small, quick chowder built on a nut-based protein rather than salt pork or fish. It makes about two cups, enough for two modest bowls.
- Nut cheeseMost likely a firm, sliceable nut loaf rather than a modern cultured cashew spread; the instruction to dice it points that way. The best-known commercial versions were the canned nut foods sold under names like Nuttose and Protose. A firm commercial nut roast, a plain seitan or a very firm cube-cut nut loaf gives the closest texture; a soft vegan cheese will simply dissolve.
- Dice sizeCut the potato in quarter-inch dice so it cooks through in the 3/4 cup of water without needing more liquid. Larger pieces will leave you boiling the pot dry.
- Do not boil after the milk goes inThe recipe adds the milk hot at the end, so it needs only warming through; bringing it to a boil risks catching on the pan or curdling. The recipe itself gives no instruction on the point.
- Heat the milk separatelyAdding cold milk to the hot potato pot drops the temperature and tempts you into reboiling. Scald it in a second pan or the microwave while the potato cooks.
- ThicknessThere is no flour or cracker here, so the body comes entirely from the potato starch. Crushing two or three of the potato dice against the side of the pan before the milk goes in thickens it noticeably without changing the recipe.
- SeasoningHalf a teaspoon of salt for roughly two and a half cups of soup; consider adding half at first and adjusting after the nut cheese is in, since commercial nut loaves are already salted.
- ServingYields roughly two and a half cups. Serve immediately in warmed bowls with crackers or plain bread; it does not hold well, as the potato continues to soften and the nut cheese goes pasty on standing.