![Egg Drop Soup]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Dec 10, 2015 | Asian, Halal-Certified Products, Soups
If you like restaurant-style Chinese Egg Drop Soup, just know that you don’t have to go out to have it- it’s so super easy and quick to make that you don’t even have to stress much over making it. You probably have at least some of the ingredients already, like eggs. Plus, you should always stock up on the Saffron Road halal broths to keep your halal pantry full of convenient but healthy cooking ingredients like these. It just makes life so much easier.
For this recipe you only need six simple ingredients: Saffron Road Artisan Roasted Chicken Broth (you could also use the Traditional Chicken Broth), eggs, fresh ginger, salt, sesame oil and green scallions. *link to get the broth shipped directly to you is at the end of this post*
I originally had a recipe from my teaching days when I taught Language Arts and had my students engage in a very interactive project to promote multicultural global understanding. Each class was given a region of the world and each student in the respective classes was given a particular country to research and write about as well as present in front of their peers. Also, as part of each project, the students were asked to bring in an authentic dish from the country they researched and allow their peers to try it, as well as share the recipe. It was such a great lesson in enjoying global cuisine. They had to cook it themselves and, of course, all the ingredients had to be halal (all students in the classes were following a halal diet). It was so interesting to see how the students transformed dishes with appropriate halal substitutions and had so much fun trying one another’s dishes. This Egg Flower Soup (aka Egg Drop Soup or Dahn Far Yong) was one of my favorites so I kept the recipe in a file for years, although I’ve tweaked it to my own specifications.
For this recipe, no frying or sautéing is needed. Just simply bring the broth to a boil with the ginger and salt added, if you like. I love the addition of ginger, but if you want to skip the salt, that’s fine, too, as the Artisan Roasted Chicken Broth has a bit of salt added.
Separately, whisk the eggs in a bowl then gently add into the boiling broth.
Reduce the heat immediately to low, while continuing to whisk and swirl, creating a flower-like formation in the broth. I like a lot of eggs in my soup, but you could do less than three, if you prefer.
Remove from heat immediately once the eggs have cooked fully, about 3 minutes. Once ladled into bowls, add the freshly chopped scallions.
Some people like to have a bit of soy sauce on the side to drizzle in- I like that, too.
To get the broth conveniently shipped to you, you can find it here:
![Avgolemono Soup with Arborio Rice]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Oct 1, 2015 | Greek, Mediterranean, Soups
I’ve always been interested in Mediterranean soups that are really quite different from soups here, you know the ones that have a bit of a sour taste. I’ve found the recipes in my Greek and Turkish cookbooks at home but only ever tried them once or twice in people’s homes, never on my own.
These days I’m simply too busy to do much shopping or complicated meal-making so I was on the hunt for a simple, quick and comforting bowl of hot soup on one of our first chilly Fall days- Avoglemono, or a soup with egg, lemon and rice. It often has meat in it, but my version is meatless with Artisan Roasted Chicken Broth by Saffron Road. You could add chunks of chicken or beef if you like; alternatively you could make it vegetarian by using a vegetable broth (try Saffron Road’s Classic Culinary Vegetable Broth, which is also certified halal).
This soup is so simple that the only ‘complicated’ thing going on is whisking the egg and lemon juice together, adding the broth to the mix then adding it back into the soup to thicken. It’s also what give the soup that uniquely sour taste, in a good way.
I had the soup right away, which I loved. It also was even better when it had some time to thicken after the heat was turned off for a bit and/or then refrigerated.
Add some fresh or dried herbs on top then stir throughout when eating. It’s so good and I think it goes with just about any type of meal- fish, chicken or beef. Or, on its own- as with all great soups!
![Creamy Potato Soup]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Aug 1, 2015 | Soups, Summer
Ever since Ramadan, I’ve been in the habit of making soups with whatever is growing and seasonal. Last year I grew potatoes in pots and it was going great until the potatoes really began to grow underneath (the greens had already come out beautifully on top) and the squirrels realized there was something to be found below- after that, I had very few potatoes to work with and a better understanding and appreciation for those golden little balls of starchy goodness. Making this soup with them is one of my favorites ever.
The ingredients are incredibly simple- potatoes, of course- plus one onion, five cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, milk and vegetable broth. You can use water instead of broth, but it won’t be as thick. You can skip the milk but it won’t be as creamy.
The garlic and onion are sautéed with olive oil and butter to start. I mince each as small as I can just to make the blending easier later.
I love to use the gluten-free, low-sodium halal Classic Culinary Vegetable Broth by Saffron Road. It’s flavorful with its herbs and not so salty that you can’t adjust the soup accordingly. Potatoes love salt so you can be a bit generous with it for taste.
Halal All Natural Classic Culinary Vegetable Broth by Saffron Road
Once the onions and garlic are sautéed and the potatoes added, then the broth, the liquids should be brought to a boil then reduced to a simmer and cooked for about 20 minutes, uncovered.
After cooking and the potatoes softened, remove the pan from heat and use an immersion blender to combine all the ingredients nice and evenly. Leave a few chunks of potato, if desired. I didn’t peel the potatoes completely so this soup has a few skins but you can of course remove them, too. If you don’t have a hand held immersion blender, let the soup cool and put it in a regular blender, but only after it’s cool.
Add the milk (I use whole milk) to the soup directly…
and whisk it in gently…
Bring it back to the stovetop to warm and serve while hot. I like to add some freshly chopped chives on top.
Do you have a favorite version of potato soup?
![Cream of Cauliflower Soup]()
by Yvonne Maffei | May 31, 2015 | Soups
This Spring started out rainy, then became the season I hoped it would be- beautiful fresh air throughout the day without a cloud in the skies, dew drops on the leaves in the morning, songbirds singing cheerfully, and new life appearing everywhere.
Sounds like something out of the Little House on the Prairie, right?
Well, that idyllic Spring season took a blustery turn this weekend and we spent it dodging winds, rain and what felt like dreary Fall days. I thought I’d be making pea soup by now, not something a little creamier and heartier, but this recipe for Cream of Cauliflower Soup came in handy. I hope you’ll like it, and enjoy it on much warmer days than we’ve been experiencing. It’s easy to make and super delicious, especially if you like soups as a hearty part of your meals.
I started out with a few simple ingredients- of course one head of cauliflower,
which is about 2 pounds (2 1/2 pounds with the stem attached)
2 cups of Saffron Road’s Classic Culinary Low Sodium Vegetable Broth (a halal-certified product), 2 cups whole milk, onions, garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil and butter.
Like most delicious things, this soup starts off with the lovely mixture of olive oil and butter. Then, once the butter froths (which protects the olive oil from heating too high and being ruined), add in the onions and garlic. Once those have softened, the cauliflower is added.
Let those cook for a few minutes to brown and soften, then add in the vegetable broth.
*NOTE ABOUT THE BROTH IN THIS RECIPE: It seems as though the Saffron Road halal chicken and other broths are not available, so you can replace it with an organic vegetarian broth like this one for this recipe.
It’s such a deep and beautiful dark color, which means they’ve taken great care to slow cook the vegetables and make a true broth.
Next, the cauliflower should cook on low for about 20-25 minutes to completely soften them. After that time, the soup should be pureed with a hand mixer directly in the pan (though off the heat), or in a blender after the mixture has cooled.
It can be rewarmed in a pan before serving. I like to add freshly chopped parsley, though on a blistery day like yesterday when my kitchen garden is not right outside my doorstep, the dried parsley was the next best thing.
What’s your favorite vegetable to use in a creamy style soup?
![Chinese Hot & Sour Soup]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Apr 29, 2015 | Asian
I love really good, authentic Chinese food- don’t you? As with all restaurants that aren’t committed to serving halal dishes, if you dine at one you’ll have to ask a zillion questions about the ingredients to find out if there are any questionable or clearly non-halal ingredients. If you only eat dhabiha (slaughtered according to Islamic requirements) meats and their by-products, chicken or meat broth in foods may pose an issue for you, too. That’s why I love to learn to make my own globally-inspired recipes and share them here.
Another important addition is the broth.
I don’t recommend skipping the broth because I feel it needs some depth to it. You could try a vegetable broth, too, but chicken broth really works best in my opinion because it contains that healthy fat that gives the soup a silky taste. Use the halal-certified low sodium broths by Saffron Road and you’ve got a totally halal version of this restaurant-style soup.
This recipe for Chinese Hot & Sour Soup has turned into a family favorite soup when we’re craving Chinese food and want to create the restaurant-style experience at home with the other Chinese recipes I’ve got under my belt. What about you- what’s your favorite Chinese recipe you’d like to see made halal?
Check out the recipe below.
