Cream is a versatile ingredient, capable of tempering down spice, adding richness and creating smooth, silky texture. However, some home cooks refuse to use cream due to its health associations and a fear of making food overly rich. Although it’s true that cream is high in fat, used every once in a while it can really boost the flavor and texture of the food you’re cooking. Check out these three ways to use cream (sparingly) in your cooking.
Vegetable Soup
If you’re making a vegetable soup, stirring one to two tablespoons of cream into the pan a few minutes before serving can make the soup super thick and deliciously tasty. Cream works particularly well in soups that already have a buttery flavor profile, such as parsnip or pumpkin, or those with a tart flavoring that could do with tempering down, such as tomato.
Curry
Adding cream into a curry or dahl in the last few minutes of cooking time can really emphasize the delicious flavors ad textures of the dish you’re creating. It can also tune down any spices if you think you’ve been overzealous with adding them.
Tomato Sauce
If you’re making a tomato sauce to use in a pasta dish or to top a pizza, stirring one tablespoon of cream into the sauce in the last few minutes of cooking time can help all of the flavors to blend together, and make you sauce silky smooth.
Cream can get a bad rap but as long as you’re not dousing it over every dish, using it occasionally in your cooking can help boost both flavor and texture.
