Homemade Cruelty Free Cheese

When I first decided to cut out dairy, I first started with butter/margarine, replacing it with 'Nuttelex' (a plant based spread). This was a very easy transition as it tastes pretty much the same and you can still use it for the same purpose. However, giving up cheese was one thing, finding a cheese replacement was another! I have tried a couple of different recipes for homemade cheese (as buying dairy free cheese is pricey business!).

Firstly I tried a cheese recipe that is quite commonly found on the internet varying slightly with different ingredients and quantities. This cheese used a plant based gelatine like ingredient called 'Agar agar' which comes from some sea plant. My initial reaction to my cheese was one of disgust:[, mostly because I stuffed up the ingredients and used 5 times the amount of Agar Agar powder (there are flakes and powder, the powder is apparently a lot more concentrated:P). Here is an example of the cheddar cheese I tried http://accidentalvegetarian.blogspot.com/2009/02/really-good-df-cheese-primer-with.html.

However, mine didn't turn out like that:(...Although I did substitute the coconut oil for olive oil for convenience. If I try it again I will see what difference the coconut oil makes.

Bottom line, it didn't taste like cheese:( However, I ended up 'marinating' the cheese in a mixture of olive oil, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper and capers. After a couple of days the 'cheese' was a lot nicer, still not quite cheesey, but something else. It was quite a salty cheese (probably from being marinated) and it was rather crumbly like a feta texture. I've used it in wraps, toasted sandwiches, mixed through pasta, on crackers etc. pretty much how you would use cheese, it adds the salty flavour.

So my other cheese adventures included a parmesan cheese which is rather awesome. Sooooo easy to make and it gives just that hint of flavour you need where you would normally use parmesan.

Parmesan Cheese:

Ingredients:

Equal parts Nutritional yeast flakes and sesame seeds (Maybe start with 1/2 a cup of each)
Sea salt to taste

Method:

Toast sesame seeds in a pan until they smell all toasty and yummy and have changed to a golden brown colour.
Once the sesame seeds have cooled down, blend them in a food processor with the nutritional yeast flakes.
Add the salt to your liking, only adding small quantities at a time.

Store in an air tight container in the fridge:)

My most recent cheese adventure has been a nut cheese that contains a probiotic. I used a combination of different recipes for this one. This cheese is slightly more time consuming but it results in quite a visually appealing cheese that would be suitable for a cheese wheel. I've been munching this on crackers and I put some on a breadroll with a felafel burger-it was quite the yummers:)

Almond cheese:

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Raw Almonds
• Probiotics (I used a sachet, which actually turned out was derived from whey fml, however I've read that you can just use a capsule)
• 1 cup warm filtered water
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/2 tablespoon onion or garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 tablespoon course sea salt
• 3 tablespoon mixed peppercorns

Method:

1. Soak the almonds in water for up 24-48 hrs then peel the skin off. I ended up soaking for just about 19-20 hrs because I was really impatient. *However*, I will soak them longer next time, as I found the nuts were still a little crunchy. It will also make it a lot easier to peel the little suckers!

*NOTE* it's up to you whether you peel the almonds. It took me like an hour and a half to do this and I also had very sore fingers:(. The only difference I can imagine it would make would be the final colour and possible texture of the cheese. Leaving the peels on will also add fibre to your cheese. When I retry this recipe I will add another picture and review of how it goes with the peels.

2. Mix the probiotics into the water and then place the nuts and the water mixture into a food processor and blend until it is smooth as possible.

3. Prepare a fine mesh sieve over a bowl or jug and then line the sieve with a clean piece of cheese cloth (or teatowel for lazy people like me). Pour the cheese into the sieve and wrap the material over the cheese so it is completely covered. Place a bowl or small plate over the cheese and weigh it down with a bottle or a can. This will help squeeze out the moisture. Leave this in a warmish, dark position for 8-12 hours.

4. Once it is time to remove the cheese, carefully pour into a large bowl and discard liquid that came from the cheese. Mix in all remaining ingredients (**except Course sea salt and pepper) by hand until it is nicely combined.

5. Press the cheese mixture into a small non-stick springform pan or loose bottom cake pan.

6. Crush the pepper and sea salt with a mortar and pestle and sprinkle over the cheese to cover it completely. Press the pepper mixture into the cheese.

7. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Please check out the pizza cheese sauce recipe on my other post. I have used this through pastas and on toasted sandwiches, it's good:) and very easy:)