From Not Just Another Vegan Cookbook (Teya Brooks Pribac)
BASIC FERMENTED CHEESE
◊ 1 cup raw cashew nuts ◊ ½ tsp salt ◊ 1 vegan probiotic capsule ◊ 3 tbsp refined coconut oil, melted ◊ ¼ tsp calcium propionate (optional) ◊ Water, as little as possible*
*For a very powerful blender ¼ of a cup of water may be enough, with others you may need more. In any case use as little water as possible; if using more water add more coconut oil if you want the cheese firm.
.Place the cashews in a bowl and add enough water to cover the nuts (2-3 cups). You can also add 1 tsp of salt to the soaking water to activate the nuts. Soak the cashews for several hours or overnight. Drain them and rinse them under running water.
.Place the cashews in a blender, add the salt (½ tsp), the probiotic, the coconut oil and water and blend until smooth. In the absence of a high speed blender, part of the water could be substituted with additional softened coconut oil, this will make the cheese harder (but also fattier). Depending on the blender, you may need to stop the blending process a few times and scrape stuff off the walls of the blender (see Intro above).
.Line a small bowl or other container (depending on the desired shape of the cheese) with baking paper. Transfer the blended cheese mixture into this bowl. Let it sit at room temperature for a day (or at least overnight) to help the fermentation process. This is an important step.
.Then refrigerate for several hours or overnight so the mixture goes hard. Take the cheese out of the container - the baking paper will make this step super easy. Then carefully remove the baking paper from the cheese. Now you can give your cheese the final form and refrigerate it uncovered (this will dry it out further and make it look and taste more like real cheese) or use as base for other cheeses (marinated, coated, etc.).
BASIC FERMENTED CHEESE WITH A SHARP TWIST
◊ Ingredients as per basic fermented cheese ◊ 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes ◊ 2 tsp white miso paste
BASIC/QUICK STRETCHY CHEESE
◊ 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight ◊ ¾ tsp salt ◊ 2 tbsp refined coconut oil, softened ◊ Yeast flakes, miso, etc. (optional) ◊ 1-1.5 cups water or as necessary ◊ 1 tbsp psyllium husk, soaked in ½ cup water for at least 2 hours
.Drain and rinse the soaked cashews, and blend them (or tofu/beans) with the coconut oil, water, salt and any additions (yeast flakes, etc.) until smooth.
.Add the soaked psyllium husk. Begin the blending process at low speed and slowly increase to full speed. Continue blending at high speed until smooth. During the blending process the mixture will first look rough and lumpy, but soon enough it will become smooth and you’ll see it turning into a homogenous ball-kind-of-thing, separating from the blender’s walls.
.Transfer it into a bowl/container (no need for baking paper) and refrigerate for a few hours so it sets. Skip this step if you are in a hurry, it works just fine poured onto whatever you’re baking.
.Use generous amounts on pizza, in quesadillas etc. It will melt and go stretchy with heat (e.g. baking or toasting).
FERMENTED STRETCHY CHEESE
.Proceed as per previous recipe. Add the probiotic while blending the cashew base. At the end transfer the lot into a container and let it sit at room temperature overnight. Refrigerate it the following day.
MOZZARELLA
To make mozzarella follow the recipe for fermented stretchy cheese above but only use a small amount of water. Not all blenders will be able to handle it.
BLUE CHEESE & CAMEMBERT
◊ Basic fermented cheese, p. 29 (without calcium propionate) ◊ Tiny amount of blue or white mould
.Blend all the ingredients (cashews, salt, coconut oil, probiotic, water and mould) until smooth. Make sure you use a truly small amount of the mould, it is extremely strong and using too much will ruin the cheese.
.Transfer to a container lined with baking paper and let it ferment for 24h at room temperature.
.Then store it in the fridge for 24h. The cheese should become solid.
.Once solid, remove the baking paper, and mash the cheese up with your fingers, i.e. break it apart, put it back together gently, don’t press too much, just play with it for a minute or so. This will create spaces/channels inside the cheese and I find that this helps develop the blue/white veins inside not just on the surface of the cheese. Finally, also with your fingers or a wooden spatula, smoothen out the surface of the cheese (for aesthetic purposes).
.Put the cheese back into the container (no baking paper needed now), cover the container with a lid but don’t seal it so as to allow air to penetrate. Store in the fridge. Keep it there for 4-5 weeks, even though it should already taste like blue cheese or camembert after 3 weeks.
.If you want to keep it for longer than 5 weeks, you can stop the maturing process by wrapping the cheese in baking paper and storing it in a well-sealed plastic bag or container.
BASIC FERMENTED CHEESE
◊ 1 cup raw cashew nuts ◊ ½ tsp salt ◊ 1 vegan probiotic capsule ◊ 3 tbsp refined coconut oil, melted ◊ ¼ tsp calcium propionate (optional) ◊ Water, as little as possible*
*For a very powerful blender ¼ of a cup of water may be enough, with others you may need more. In any case use as little water as possible; if using more water add more coconut oil if you want the cheese firm.
.Place the cashews in a bowl and add enough water to cover the nuts (2-3 cups). You can also add 1 tsp of salt to the soaking water to activate the nuts. Soak the cashews for several hours or overnight. Drain them and rinse them under running water.
.Place the cashews in a blender, add the salt (½ tsp), the probiotic, the coconut oil and water and blend until smooth. In the absence of a high speed blender, part of the water could be substituted with additional softened coconut oil, this will make the cheese harder (but also fattier). Depending on the blender, you may need to stop the blending process a few times and scrape stuff off the walls of the blender (see Intro above).
.Line a small bowl or other container (depending on the desired shape of the cheese) with baking paper. Transfer the blended cheese mixture into this bowl. Let it sit at room temperature for a day (or at least overnight) to help the fermentation process. This is an important step.
.Then refrigerate for several hours or overnight so the mixture goes hard. Take the cheese out of the container - the baking paper will make this step super easy. Then carefully remove the baking paper from the cheese. Now you can give your cheese the final form and refrigerate it uncovered (this will dry it out further and make it look and taste more like real cheese) or use as base for other cheeses (marinated, coated, etc.).
BASIC FERMENTED CHEESE WITH A SHARP TWIST
◊ Ingredients as per basic fermented cheese ◊ 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes ◊ 2 tsp white miso paste
BASIC/QUICK STRETCHY CHEESE
◊ 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight ◊ ¾ tsp salt ◊ 2 tbsp refined coconut oil, softened ◊ Yeast flakes, miso, etc. (optional) ◊ 1-1.5 cups water or as necessary ◊ 1 tbsp psyllium husk, soaked in ½ cup water for at least 2 hours
.Drain and rinse the soaked cashews, and blend them (or tofu/beans) with the coconut oil, water, salt and any additions (yeast flakes, etc.) until smooth.
.Add the soaked psyllium husk. Begin the blending process at low speed and slowly increase to full speed. Continue blending at high speed until smooth. During the blending process the mixture will first look rough and lumpy, but soon enough it will become smooth and you’ll see it turning into a homogenous ball-kind-of-thing, separating from the blender’s walls.
.Transfer it into a bowl/container (no need for baking paper) and refrigerate for a few hours so it sets. Skip this step if you are in a hurry, it works just fine poured onto whatever you’re baking.
.Use generous amounts on pizza, in quesadillas etc. It will melt and go stretchy with heat (e.g. baking or toasting).
FERMENTED STRETCHY CHEESE
.Proceed as per previous recipe. Add the probiotic while blending the cashew base. At the end transfer the lot into a container and let it sit at room temperature overnight. Refrigerate it the following day.
MOZZARELLA
To make mozzarella follow the recipe for fermented stretchy cheese above but only use a small amount of water. Not all blenders will be able to handle it.
BLUE CHEESE & CAMEMBERT
◊ Basic fermented cheese, p. 29 (without calcium propionate) ◊ Tiny amount of blue or white mould
.Blend all the ingredients (cashews, salt, coconut oil, probiotic, water and mould) until smooth. Make sure you use a truly small amount of the mould, it is extremely strong and using too much will ruin the cheese.
.Transfer to a container lined with baking paper and let it ferment for 24h at room temperature.
.Then store it in the fridge for 24h. The cheese should become solid.
.Once solid, remove the baking paper, and mash the cheese up with your fingers, i.e. break it apart, put it back together gently, don’t press too much, just play with it for a minute or so. This will create spaces/channels inside the cheese and I find that this helps develop the blue/white veins inside not just on the surface of the cheese. Finally, also with your fingers or a wooden spatula, smoothen out the surface of the cheese (for aesthetic purposes).
.Put the cheese back into the container (no baking paper needed now), cover the container with a lid but don’t seal it so as to allow air to penetrate. Store in the fridge. Keep it there for 4-5 weeks, even though it should already taste like blue cheese or camembert after 3 weeks.
.If you want to keep it for longer than 5 weeks, you can stop the maturing process by wrapping the cheese in baking paper and storing it in a well-sealed plastic bag or container.