Warning: I realized after watching the video again that the cheese must sit in a brine for 3 - 4 weeks. I will shorten that to 2 weeks for this class. However, I will make the pizza without the cheese because that is good, too. So first we will get the cheese finished and to the brine stage. Then I will make the pizza dough, add the toppings and bake. Now that the cultured cashews have sat on the counter for 24 hours I will make the cheese. If you want to wait until later or another day to make the cheese the culture can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Supplies needed: Immersion blender Large bowl of ice and water Large pot Ice cream scoop Plastic wrap Ingredients: 5 C cultured cashew milk 3 T kappa carrageenan 3/4 t citric acid 1 1/2 C tapioca starch 1 T salt plus lots of salt to make a brine 1 1/2 refined coconut oil I am using a large pot because my blender is not big enough to hold the ingredients that I need to add. First it is necessary to have a large bowl with lots of ice and water with which to place your wrapped cheese balls. I put 5 cups of cultured cashew milk into a pot and add 3 T kappa carrageenan, 3/4 t citric acid, 1 1/2 C tapioca starch and 1 T salt. I immersion blend this until blended evenly. Now I add 1 1/2 C liquified coconut oil to the mix and mix with a spoon until blended. I turn on my heat to medium and use a whisk (slowly) to stir this for a minute or so. I then immersion blend again for a short minute. I use the whisk until the mixture starts to pull away from the pan. Then I use a spoon to stir until the mixture gets nice and glossy. When the cheese mixture gets to this stage I have my ice and water bath ready beside me and my plastic wrap laid out. An ice cream scoop works perfectly for scooping about 3 scoops full of cheese mixture onto the plastic wrap. It is easy to wrap this up. Double wrapping assures a better seal. I have not perfected Jay Astafa's cool technique. Place the wrapped ball in the ice bath as you do them and let sit in the fridge for 4 hours. After 4 hours the cheese balls are ready to be placed in a brine for 3 to 6 weeks. Then eat and enjoy. The link for the brine mentions that you only need to brine for an hour per pound - this might be a mistake. Note: I will use mine in 2 weeks from now to let you know how it tastes. I took the cheese out of it's wrap and we all did a taste test. A general consensus was reached: it smells like cream cheese, has the texture of mozzarella, but tastes a lot like coconut. Oh, but it slices just like mozzarella. I'll bet it cooks like it, too. It was at this point my daughters told me about refined coconut oil where the coconut taste is removed. The Nourished Life explains the differences between virgin coconut oil and it's refined cousin. Not only does refined cooking oil not taste like coconut it cooks at higher temperatures, too. I prided myself on the virgin oils I buy. I need to look into getting comfortable for some refined versions, especially coconut oil. I was going to throw away the whole lot, but the girls stopped me. They said mom we will make grilled cheese sandwiches and stuff. We will use it. Great kids I have!! A favourite YouTube vegan sensation that I enjoy watching is Daniel Bissonnette. See his take on trying cashew cheese. :)
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