CHEESE BALLS IN OLIVE OIL & HERB-COATED CHEESE (VEGAN)
Delightful aromatic vegan cheeses made of cashew nuts
Equipment
- High-speed blender
- A pot
Ingredients
Cream cheese balls in olive oil:
- 210 gr of cashews + hot boiling water for soaking, soak for 30 min.;
- 2 capsules of vegan probiotic, just powder;
- 3/4 cup of water;
- 3/4 tsp. of salt (or more, adjust to your personal taste);
- 1/2 tsp. of apple vinegar (or more, adjust to your personal taste);
- 5 tbsp. of corn starch + 3/4 tsp. of agar powder + 100 ml of water: stir and bring to a boil, then add fermented cheese to it and whisk the mixture on a hot stove for 30 seconds;
- for coating: chopped fresh basil leaves mixed with chopped sun dried tomatoes (from oil), sumac, za'atar, and black sesame seeds.
- olive oil for preserving cheese ball;
Vegan herb-coated cheese:
- 200 gr of cashews + hot boiling water for soaking, soak for 30 min.;
- 300 ml of water;
- 2 tbsp. of nutritional yeast;
- 7 tbsp. of corn starch;
- 1 tsp. of garlic powder;
- 1 tsp. of onion powder;
- 3/4 - 1 tsp. of salt (or more, adjust to your personal taste);
- 1 tbsp. of organic coconut oil with neutral taste;
- 3/4 tsp. of agar agar powder
- 1/2 -3/4 tsp of apple vinegar (or more, adjust to your personal taste);
- dry herb seasoning (herbes de Provence) for coating.
Instructions
Cheese balls in olive oil:
- Drain cashew nuts out of excess water. Put them in a high speed blender together with 3/4 cups of water and probiotic powder (from capsules) and apple vinegar and blend until it reaches a creamy consistency. Pour the mixture into a cheese cloth and let it ferment and drain at the room temperature for 24 hours up to (36 hours).
- Take it out of the cloth. Add salt to it and stir well. Combine in a pot this fermented mixture with freshly cooked hot cornstarch mixture (cooked with water and agar powder as it is described in the ingredient section, up). Stir everything well. Remove from the stove and let it cool down a bit.
- Pour olive oil into a glass jar.
- Use the cheese mixture to shape cheese balls with your greased hand palms. Roll each ball into a different seasoning. Put each ball into a jar, close the jar and store it in the refrigerator. Cheese balls can be consumed the next day.
Herb-coated cheese:
- Drain cashew nuts out of excess water. Put them in a high speed blender together with water and the rest of ingredients except herb seasoning. Blend until it reaches nice creamy consistency. Pour the mixture into a pot.
- Start cooking while stirring constantly well. Once it starts to bubble, cook it for 1 min, then remove from the stove. Let it cool down just a tiny bit and then place into a glass container that has been covered with thin nylon foil from the inside. Let it cool down.
- Take it out from the container and coat with herb de Provence seasoning mixture on every side. Put it in the fridge. Slice it once it's completely cold (after a minimum of 5 hours, the best is to leave it overnight). Store it in the fridge for up to 8 days.