Giving up cheese is always the hardest part of going vegan or ital. It is part of so many favourite dishes and often we backslide because of that. Over the years I have missed it in sandwiches, pizza and as a topping for salad. Thankfully the vegan community online discovered the Japanese gelling agent agar-agar which is an all natural plant-based gelling agent unlike gelatin which comes from pigs. So with agar you can make jellies and gummies and all kinds of desserts and now cheeze!
With this recipe you can make numerous small blocks of cheeze or one big block. It all depends on the size of the container or containers you use. Here are a few things to note:
*OIL YOUR CONTAINERS BEFORE YOU POUR!* I cannot stress this enough, as my first go-round, I forgot this vital part! The cheeze will NOT budge as an entire block if you forget!
*Make sure you have your containers oiled and ready to go BEFORE you mix in the melted agar as the cheeze thickens immediately once blended with the agar.
* I use the bottled kind for this recipe specifically as sometimes the lime/lemon can be too tangy which can affect the flavour you get, but you are free to use your fresh limes or lemons once they are properly ripe.
*Put all the salt if you want your cheeze to have flavour!
*Your blender MUST be able to properly blend nuts right down to a paste. I use my food processor which is ideal. A Vitamix will work as well.
*If you only have agar strands you will need a Nutribullet or a blender that has a milling blade or the flat blade, to make it into a grainy dust. You need to mill the strands as fine as possible, using a pulse method instead of just letting it blend at high speed, because the agar is so light that it just flies around without breaking down. So pulse the Nutribullet - slide on and off a lot as that keeps the agar flakes to the bottom of the blender where the blade is. I hope this makes sense!
#Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups or a 200g pack raw unsalted cashew nuts (don't soak to retain the flavour)
You can also use 1 cup of cashews, but adjust the agar water to 1 cup as well.
1/3 cup water
5 tbs lemon/lime juice (4 tbs also works)
2 tbs coconut oil (I use Nariel brand which is slightly refined for cooking but still solidifies in cold temps. But I figure whatever cooking oil without a strong flavour can work)
2 1/2 tsp pink salt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (you can omit it you don't use or have, I find it still tastes great!)
1 tsp garlic powder
(1/2-1 tbs chili flakes if you want a peppery cheeze)
Gelling Ingredients:
1 tbs agar powder to 1 cup water
OR for agar strands you need 1/4 cup of the milled strands and 1 1/4 cup water.
A small pot and spoon
Method:
1. Add all the #Ingredients to your food processor or blender and blend until a smooth paste is formed. The nuts should not be gritty any longer, though one or two grains may still be there. Stop and rest your machine as needed, and push down the paste from the sides as needed.
Leave the mixture in the blender while you prepare the agar.
2. In a small pot bring the 1 cup of water to boil and add your 1 tbs of agar. STIR CONTINUOUSLY until a thick gel forms.
OR if using the agar strands: pull apart strands and using a scissors clip them into fine pieces. Using the milling blade on your Nutribullet, mill them to as fine a dust as you can manage. This is important as it takes a while to form the gel and if the pieces are too big, they take forever to gel. Add tsp amounts of water if necessary as you keep stirring but remember not to add too much.
3. When the agar is properly melted, add it to the blender/processor. Blend until it is mixed into the cheeze. Pour IMMEDIATELY into greased container(s) and allow to cool properly. Slap the container on to the counter to make the cheeze settle properly.
4. Cover and store in the fridge to set for at least 5-6 hours, but I tend to leave mine until the morning.
You can simply scrape with a knife and spread onto your crackers or bread, or you can slice or even grate the cheeze. The more agar the firmer it will be but it will still be soft enough to spread.
My huge block lasted about 2 week in the fridge. When I make smaller blocks however, I found they should be consumed within 7-9 days.
I hope you like this one, it is certainly a favourite with every member of my family which is a huge success for me! I often have to police the poor cheeze or it will be devoured in no time! (It's expensive to make!)
Let me know how you make this recipe your own in a comment below or if you have tried it, leave a review! Tag me on Instagram so that I can see and share your creation @italpeople
Love!
Ila
No comments:
Post a Comment