Cashew Cheese
One Cheese Disk, Preparation Time 2 to 3 days
Cashew Cheese is our new obsession and it has made it into our new, improved traditional Christmas fare. During the year we predominantly eat a whole food plant base diet. Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas meals are the general exception to the rule where we permit ourselves to eat or serve some type of animal base product and some processed foods. We don't give in wholeheartedly to these exceptions, mainly because we have lost our appetite for such food. We try to give ourselves and our guests alternative options. Some of these options like our "Cashew Cheese" is a treat and a healthier alternative to the animal (dairy) base cheese. Cashew Cheese has no cholesterol, no animal hormones, is lower in saturated fats, and is tolerated by more people due to its lactose free nature.
- 1 ½ cups (225g) raw cashews, soak for a long period, preferably overnight
- 2 tablespoons plain rice vinegar, or 1 tablespoon of a differing white vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 tablespoon of any fresh herb such as: rosemary, oregano, thyme or other herb of your choice
- 1 teaspoon of (your choice) Soy sauce, or Tamara sauce, or Vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- Soaking the cashews for a good period is important to soften the cashew nuts and to achieve a smooth mouth feel in your cheese and to avoid the risk of gritty texture. Be prepared to use additional water during processing to achieve a creamy finish. Cover the cashews in hot water, with at least an inch of water covering the top layer of the nuts. Soak the nuts for a minimum of 6 hours. We recommend soaking overnight.
- After soaking, drain the cashews and rinse them. Add them and all the other ingredients into a food processor or powerful blender, blend until the mixture has a smooth finish, stopping occasionally to scrape down any small pieces that are bypassing the blending. Optionally, you may wish to hold back herbs and stir them in at the end, with the purpose of leaving them visible.
- At this point you should have created a soft cheese with the consistency of cream cheese. You may wish to stop here, chill and serve your cashew cream cheese as a dip or a spread. To make a firm cheese you will need to proceed with the following steps.
- Line a 4 to 6 inch (15.24 cm) round casserole dish or cake pan with parchment paper. We use a casserole dish with steep sides, and use two pieces of parchment paper to line the dish. You want the parchment paper to be pressed as flat as possible to the dish. We wet the paper to achieve this and to have the paper stick to the sides of our casserole dish. Pour and scrape your creamy cashew cheese into the casserole or pan and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours.
- Preheat the oven to 325 °F (about 165 °C). Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Bake for 20 minutes to produce a softer cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes to produce a much firmer cheese. It is ready when you see cracks appearing on the top. When ready, remove and place on a cooling rack for a half hour before serving. Like many a good cheese, the flavour of your Cashew Cheese will improve with age. What we mean by 'age' is refrigerating the cheese for day or two before serving.
- Serve your Cashew Cheese as you would any fine cheese.
Once you master the making of your basic Cashew Cheese, you can be inventive and dream of further modifications. In our case, we make a plant base "Pecorino Pepato", which is a sheep milk cheese with embedded black peppercorns. Our version, that we name "Anacardio Pepato", requires the addition of peppercorns and possibly the addition of more salt depending on which variety of pecorino cheese we feel like simulating. With our version of Anacardio Pepato cheese, we can image further alterations to create a simulated version of a traditional Maltese cheese known as "Ġbejniet". Our favourite version of Ġbejniet is the cured version. We cure our Anacardio Pepato cheese with additional ground black pepper and age it in white vinegar to achieve a delicious version of Ġbejniet.
Mexican Cheese
Traditional Hummus
