Raw cashew cheese: Easy to make and awesome!

[songlife]

Soak raw cashews over night. When they are completely soaked through and of a weird texture (XD), blend them up. Add basil, lemon, a little sea salt, pepper, and a little bit of onion (I like it with less than she showed in the video), and nutritional yeast. I like more nutritional yeast than the girl in the video. I've also heard that a touch of lavender makes a big difference but I haven't tried that yet.

Let it sit in the fridge for a while after.

This is the video I got it from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69OgLu7RxOk

[wendy]

Yep is great! My husband is a fussy eater and he loved it. Thanks for posting it.

[Mommal]

I'm making a cashew "goat" cheese right now. The recipe is slightly different, as is the process...but so far the "batter" (for lack of a better word) is tasty. I will post it if the finished product is any good. It needs to rest overnight and tomorrow will be baked at a low temp and crusted with black pepper.

[cedarblue]

sounds interesting mommal!

i've made seed cheeze before and a macadamia one - can't remember if i've tried a cashew one. let us know how the 'goat' one goes.

[Mommal]

It came out great. Creamy and tangy. I'll definitely be making it again. This is what was in it:

3/4 cup raw cashews
6 T canola oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 T ground sesame seeds (tahini)
1 and 1/4 tsp salt
cracked or fresh ground pepper

You soak the cashews overnight in water then drain. Throw everything into the blender until it's smooth. Then put the mixture in 3 layers of cheesecloth, tie it up over a bowl, then let it stand like that for about 12 hours. The texture will end up being kind of like hummus. Then you preheat the over to 200 degrees F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, unwrap the cheese and scrape it into about a 7 inch long log on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the pepper and bake for an hour. It will be somewhat set on the outside but still soft inside.

I can't believe I've never heard of this before!

[VeganMonkey]

Mommal
This sounds very easy and uses ingredients that I already have at home so that's great - thanks! Is it as good as the Dr Cow stuff?! Are the 'T's in the ingredients tablespoons?

[Mommal]

Yes that is tablespoons.

It's different in that technically it's not "actual" cheese. Dr-Cow is real cheese because it's made using more traditional cheese-making techniques and one important part of that is using bacteria. That's what gives the Dr-Cow more of a complex flavor and (for the hard varieties) that texture you only really get from hard cheese.

This cashew cheese is more of a spread that happens to taste a lot like goat cheese. I spread it on a slice of whole grain bread this morning as part of my breakfast this morning. YUM! I don't like it better than Dr-Cow; I'd say I like it about the same. They're different though IYKWM.

I was thinking that the last steps (draining w/cheesecloth and baking) are probably not strictly necessary although do make it a bit firmer. If I was short on time I'd just soak the nuts overnight then do the puree and use it just like that.

I was also thinking I might try the recipe with a bit less oil. It's super fattening!