It's light. It's fluffy. It's creamy. It's ricotta cheese. Nope. It's a result from a wierd science project- a molecular process that my unscientific mind does not understand. It involves the curdling of proteins when the conditions are right - what those specific conditions are, I do not know. Maybe someone out there can shed some light?
This product came out of my new soymilk maker. Here's what went down: First, I was in a hurry so I threw in about 3/4 cup of frozen raw cashews into the mill chamber. The machine itself heats up water, then churns and grinds up the nuts as it steams them. The fine particles seep through the chamber through small holes and permeate the water to make milk. When the process was done, I opened it up and found that the milk had curdled, a rather large percentage of it- I would say 75%. This didn't happen before, when I made cashew milk with a 1/2 cup of soaked cashews. I only got a little curdling.
Well, regardless of how this happened, I'm happy to have made this discovery! Another reason to love my soymilk maker! The texture is amazing- light and melts in your mouth. Slightly sweet and nutty like cashews, but takes on new flavors easily. And, this is 100% cashews- no tofu or dairy added!
Mark and I have been tossing around the idea of opening a restaurant for the past couple of years, and now it's become much more serious. When Mark came to live with us, vegan cuisine was pretty new to him. Now, he's about 80-90% vegan, lost 30 pounds, and loves the idea of opening a veg-friendly restaurant. It's still a little scary in our small town to open a full-on vegan place, so we're shooting for good organic, locally produced/grown "conventional" food, with a vegan side of the kitchen to serve a good variety of veg-friendly options. There's currently nothing like this in our area.
As some of you may know, Mark has extensive experience in the restaurant biz, having had two of his own, and working as entertainment/restaurant director of the Hard Rock Cafes all over the US for a number of years. Now, having had his life savings burned down to the ground after his main property investment was lost in a forest fire, he's ready to start something fresh.
Thus, the question above... We're starting to test recipes that will eventually go on our vegan menu.
If you'd like to be one of our Testers, please let me know!
The above dish is a variation of vegan mac-n-cheese, and had a wonderful rich sauce, despite not having any processed vegan cheese in it (like Daiya), which I love, but am trying to make dishes without too many processed foods.
Here's the recipe for all of you to try. We'd appreciate any feedback you can give! Ingredients: 1 lb. macaroni or similar dry pasta 1 C. raw cashews 2-3 cloves of garlic 1 T. lemon juice 1 T. kosher salt, plus extra for cooking pasta 12-14 fresh basil leaves 1 large zucchini (about 2 cups), cubed 1 small onion (about 1 cup), cubed 2 medium potatoes (about 2 cups), cubed 1 C. unsweetened soy milk 3 C. water for cooking (1 cup reserved for sauce)
Topping: 2 C. fresh bread crumbs (I used a stale French bread loaf) 1 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. cracked black pepper 4-5 fresh basil leaves 1 T. olive oil
Roasted Tomatoes: 16 oz. grape tomatoes 1 tsp. olive oil salt and pepper to sprinkle
Spinz: Cook pasta as directed until al dente in salted water. In a medium sauce pan, add 3 C. of water, onions, potatoes, and zucchini and boil until potatoes are tender. In a high powered blender, add basil, cashews, garlic, lemon juice, and salt. Then strain the boiled veggies (reserving 1 cup of the liquid), and add the veggies to the blender. Lastly, add the soy milk and veggie water to the blender as well, and blend on high until very smooth.
For the topping, you can use ready made bread crumbs, but I suggest you make your own by cubing some stale or day-old french bread and pulsing in a food processor. Then add the salt, pepper, and basil to the processor. Turn on and stream in the tablespoon of olive oil for a few seconds, until well coated and mixed.
For the roasted tomatoes, put all of the ingredients into a baking pan and toss around until tomatoes are well coated. Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes. They should be slightly browned and burst open when done.
Pour the sauce into a 9" X 13" casserole dish, then add the drained pasta. Mix until well combined. Sprinkle bread crumb topping evenly over pasta, and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Add roasted tomatoes on top, and serve warm.
Almonds, radishes, and carrots make this a good cheese competitor, believe it or not! The almonds add richness, the radishes give a bit of sharpness, and the carrots give a good color. I made this instead of the usual vegan nacho cheeze sauce, which involves a mixture of Follow Your Heart cheddar, silken tofu, and Vegennaise- which is HELLA good, but not very light and still uses processed foods.
Here is my alternative. It's not the same, but a very tasty substitute. I know this because my non-vegan cheese loving friends loved it.
I also thinned out the sauce with a little more vegetable broth, added cooked broccoli, and made a mighty tasty Broccoli Cheeze Soup. Let me know what you think!
You'll need a food processor or high powered blender for this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 C. raw almonds (blanched and peeled) 1 C. radishes (cut into chunks) 1 C. potato (peeled and cut into chunks) 1 C. carrots (cut into chunks) 1/2 to 1 C. yellow onion (cut into chunks) 1 C. broth (reserved from cooking the vegetables) 1 tsp. lemon juice 1 T. garlic powder salt to taste 1 T. extra virgin olive oil (optional)
Spinz:
Blanch and peel the almonds and put into a food processor with salt, garlic powder, and lemon juice. Pulverize until you get a very fine meal. Boil the radishes, potato, carrots, and onion in enough water to cover until tender. Strain the vegetables, reserving 1 cup of the broth. If making soup, reserve all the broth. Add the vegetables and 1 cup broth to the nut mixture and blend until silky smooth. Stream in the olive oil if adding.
If making soup, add more broth in small amounts until you get the desired consistency. Add cooked broccoli or other veggies as desired.
Mike (the Hubby) & Butterscotch
And who should stop by today, but our good friend, Butterscotch (female beatboxer, singer, and musician from "America's Got Talent," amongst other great things). I caught her with a mouth full of nachos- LOL! If you've never seen her before, here's one of my favorite performances- check her out, she brings tears to my eyes.
Ok, what is up with guys being squeamish about the words "balls" and "nuts" when it comes to food? I suppose the term "nut cheese" really is off-putting... if you think of it that way! All the guys around here apparently do, and cringe accordingly whenever I offer them some. So instead of calling these "Nut Cheese Skewers," which is probably even worse, I have again chosen a more politically correct route for the sake of the delicate male psyche. Inspired by the Tree Nut Cheese folks on the East Coast, which we don't get over here in California, I found this recipe for Brazil Nut Cheese originally printed in Vegetarian Times. I didn't have any Brazil nuts, although they are on my list for the next batch. So I subbed cashews, which are my favorite. I did alter the recipe and method to avoid having to squeeze the mixture, which I found messy and unnecessary. The outcome is a wonderful soft pliable cheese that can easily be formed into... ok, I'm going to say it- balls! (hehe). Anyway, they taste amazing, and even pleased my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, who are non-vegans. You can also do a nice herbed cheese log and serve it with a spreading knife and crackers.
Makes a LOT of skewers as shown in the picture, or one softball-sized log.
Ingredients: 1 1/3 C. raw cashews 1 T. lemon juice 2 1/2 T. olive oil 2 cloves of garlic 1 tsp. salt 1/4 C. water
container of grape tomatoes bunch of fresh basil leaves
Spinz:
Soak the cashews in water overnight, or until they've plumped and softened. Drain nuts and process with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and water until smooth- let it run for awhile to get that extra creamy texture. Taste, and add more salt if you like. Next, transfer the mixture to a 1-qt. souffle pan or small loaf pan that has been oiled. Place that pan onto a sheet pan that has been filled half-way up with hot water and bake for 25-30 minutes at 300 degrees. It's done when it starts to crack, and will form a thin crust on top (and sides). Remove from oven and stir well. Then let it cool down. You can keep it in the fridge and make the skewers later if you like. Spoon a small amount of it and roll it with your fingers to shape and squeeze it to make it more dense. Carefully put them on the skewers (or longer toothpicks if you can find them), and layer a basil leaf and tomato. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
...Or the politically correct name: Mac 'n' CHEEZE (tm). This is the best recipe so far, and pretty versatile. You can use other veggies to make different creamy pasta sauces, like zuchinni & spinach- just make sure you have the potato for the consistency and try to match colors so you don't end up with some weird brown sauce. This combination is surprisingly cheesy, even without nutritional yeast (which you'll find in most vegan cheese recipes).
Serves 4-6 (I usually double it and have leftovers, hopefully!)
Ingredients: 8 oz. macaroni 1/2 C. carrots, chopped 1/2 C. onions, chopped 1/2 C. potatoes, chopped 1/2 C. red bell peppers, chopped 1 T. fresh garlic 1/2 C. raw cashews 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard 3 T. vegan margarine 1 tsp. salt
Spinz:
Start cooking pasta as directed. Throw chopped veggies (except garlic) in a sauce pan and add water to just cover. Cover with lid and boil until tender. In a food processor, add remaining ingredients and 1/2 C. of broth from the veggies. Process until very smooth, adding a bit more water if it's too stiff and starts to ball up (should resemble the consistency of creamy peanut butter). Add veggies by scooping them out with a hand-held strainer, and process until smooth, adding more salt if needed, or more broth if it needs to be thinned (should look like a thick gravy). Pour mixture into a medium sized casserole dish, and dump in cooked pasta. Mix evenly to coat.
Tipz
If your mac 'n' cheez is too thick and starchy, just add a little hot water and stir. Top with French-fried onions if you wanna have extreme "itis"- by slicing an onion, separating the pieces, and rolling in some flour before deep frying... yum!
Nutrition Info: 191 calories/ 11g total fat/ 2.8g sat. fat/ 470mg sodium/ 305mg potassium/ 20g total carbs/ 2.2g fiber/ 2g sugar/ 4g protein
Santa Cruz, CA Ex-DJ with lots of rhythm flowing through me towards my relationship with food. Don't take life too seriously- having fun with it and savoring every morsel!
