Impostor Cheese

Over the last few months, I’ve seen a lot of posts in blog-land regarding making homemade cheese.  The idea has always intrigued me, and I’ve often thought about how fun it would be to learn to make artisanal cheese.  One of the reasons, I’m sure, that we’ve been seeing cheesemaking going on is that it’s not very expensive to do.  However, for me, living smack dab in the middle of cheese country, making my own cheese is not a cost-effective way to enjoy cheese.  Cheese is inexpensive here, and I can cheese away to my heart’s content any time I choose and not feel like I’m blowing the budget.

Except that over the last few months, I’ve personally been reducing the amount of dairy I consume.  I’ve long suspected dairy products of causing dietary distress, but I never really tried to figure out if that really was the case or not.   Until lately.  I’d read in a cookbook or magazine that eating dairy products with beans can increase their, uh, effects, on the body, and I thought about how often I eat beans, and that little tidbit just convinced me to try going dairy free.  After months and months of creating recipes and meals that a dairy-free friend could eat, it wasn’t that difficult to come up with options for myself.  I already knew that rice milk and almond milk made me happy, and that Earth Balance Buttery Sticks made very passable cookies.  I learned in short order that toast with just a smear of jam is delicious- it really doesn’t need the butter.

But then I came to a few products for which there just isn’t a passable replacement.  I really enjoy eating yogurt, but the alternative yogurts just don’t pass muster with me.  I have my eye out for a yogurt made with coconut milk, so that might work down the road.  In the meantime, I figure the occasional yogurt with all its probiotics isn’t going to cause too much harm.  Cheese though, has been the hardest.  You don’t realize how often you add a sprinkle or a slice of cheese to something until you try to avoid it.  I’ve had to make decisions, do I really need the cheese in this case.  Surprisingly, I’ve found I don’t.  With plenty of vegetables and an avocado, even a taco doesn’t need cheese (or sour cream for that matter.) Pizza, well, that still gets cheese, and I imagine if I made lasagna, that would get cheese as well. Baked potatoes, they still get the sour cream, and most pasta still gets a light sprinkle. (Although I intend to hunt down some real Pecorino Romano made from sheeps milk.)

Unfortunately for me, I have found that practically eliminating dairy from my diet has eliminated any gastric distress.  And I mean that very literally.  In addition, when I was going through a cold a few weeks back, I had very little, um, drainage from the sinuses.  Overall, I feel great, and I don’t miss the dairy much.  I really think about whether or not it’s worth eating it before I do- If I really want that pizza, it will be worth any troubles down the road, and so far that mindset has really proved correct. I’ve increased the amount of leafy calcium containing greens and broccoli, as well as adding a calcium supplement and fortified rice milk and orange juice.  Hey, I gotta still get my calcium.

This whole post has a point, and I apologize for getting long-winded.  It’s about the cheese in this case.  When I was looking at the dairy-free cheeses this past week, debating trying a few out, I was surprised at the many un-healthy ingredients contained in them.  Specifically, I was looking at fake cream cheese and ricotta cheese, and the first ingredient off the bat was partially hydrogenated something… a pleasant tummy is not worth clogged arteries.  Fortunately for me, this week I received the April issue of Vegetarian Times magazine, and they have a whole article about making homemade un-cheese.  Using nuts and seeds, and the correct process, they promise rather palatable looking results that look very comparable to real dairy cheese.  The steps were crazy easy to follow, so I picked up some almonds and set to making some Almond Feta Cheese with Herb Oil.

Except  I didn’t quite.  I did follow the process, until it came to the part about adding a clove of garlic.  Well, I did follow, except that I added the biggest, fattest, juiciest clove of garlic I had.  Personal note: use the smallest, tiniest clove of garlic in the future.  The whole thing was easy.  I did have to   let the almonds sit for 24 hours in water, so that’s what I meant last week when I said it was a multi day process.  Then, the almonds, lemon juice, garlic, water, olive oil and salt go into a food processor and whir away for 6 minutes.  After this time is up, the mixture is scooped into cheesecloth to drain for at least 12 hours.  Meaning, another overnight in my fridge.

Now, I have to say this, the mixture, straight up out of the food processor was so like ricotta cheese.  Well, except for the part where there was this overwhelming aroma and taste of garlic.  It was so much like ricotta cheese, that I have every intention of making this again and trying this out for a lasagna or stuffed shells or something.  It was remarkable how close it was, really, it just needed less garlic and less salt- I would use half the salt for ricotta.  I did the draining overnight and was rewarded with a wheel of soft cheese.  The garlic mellowed a little overnight, but I have to tell you honestly, it still overwhelms big time.  However, the cheese itself, just as it is, is fantastic for smearing on crackers or bread.  It’s creamy, and the flavor is nice, it resembles dairy cheese very much.  I could very easily see flavoring the base by adding other herbs or flavorings during the blending.  I did not try it with the herbs and oil because it was so garlicky, I think the light herbs would just be wasted.

What I didn’t do, is try to bake it yet to make it more like feta cheese.  That’s on tap for today. Right now, I find the cheese very salty- much like a feta, and according to the magazine, baking it at a low temperature will dry it out and give me a texture like crumbly feta.  That would be great! Andy also tried out the soft cheese and was impressed.  He thought we could make this for a dinner party with the herbs and oil and everyone would enjoy it.  So my notes thus far for this impostor cheese:

• -Use the smallest clove of garlic, not the largest
• -Use half the salt for using as a soft cheese
• -Make again, because it’s delicious and a great impostor cheese.

Almond Feta Cheese with Herb Oil

from Vegetarian Times, April 2009

1 cup whole blanched almonds

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 TBS plus 1/4 cup olive oil, divided

1 clove garlic, peeled

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 TBS fresh thyme leaves

1 TBS fresh rosemary leaves

Directions:

Place almonds in a medium bowl.  Cover with 3 inches of water.  Let soak 24 hours.  Drain soaking liquid, rinse almonds under cool running water, and drain again.

Puree almonds, lemon juice, 3 TBS olive oil, garlic, salt and 1/2 cup cold water in a food processor 6 minutes, or until very smooth and creamy.  (Scrape sides of bowl often.)

Place large strainer over bowl, and line with a triple layer of cheesecloth.  Spoon almond mixture into cheesecloth.  Bring corners and sides together, and twist around cheese, forming into an orange-size ball and squeezing to help extract moisture.  Secure with rubber band or kitchen twine.  Chill 12 hours or overnight.  Discard excess liquid.

Preheat oven to 200ºF.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Unwrap cheese (it will be soft), and transfer from cheesecloth to prepared baking sheet.  Flatten to form 6-inch round about 3/4-inch thick. Bake 40 minutes, or until top is slightly firm.  Cool, then chill.  (Cheese can be made up to this point, 2 days ahead; keep refrigerated.)

Combine remaining 1/4 cup oil, thyme, and rosemary in a small saucepan.  Warm oil over medium-low heat 2 minutes, or until very hot, but not simmering.  Cool to room temperature,  Drizzle herb oil over cheese just before serving.