Ⓥ Artisan Vegan Cheese - Pub Cheddar with Chives

Since I blogged the Air Dried Cheddar  he  recipe in January, I have been going through the Artisan Vegan Cheese book, albeit very slowly, testing various recipes.  Apart from the Smoked Provolone Cheese, (I have realised I don't like smokey flavours in general), I have really enjoyed every one I have made. Gramondo has enjoyed all of them, so we are both very impressed with the book and would highly recommend that you get yourself a copy.

So, here is another cheese from the book to take a look at.

I set Gramondo the task, to find me an ale to use in the recipe.  He did very well, finding one in the Co-op that was not only a vegan ale, but an organic, Fairtrade and vegan ale.  The ale is brewed for The Co-op by the Freeminer Brewery in the Royal Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.  The malted barley is grown in the Cotswolds and on Salisbury Plain and handcrafted by Warminster Maltings - Britain’s oldest working floor maltings.

First stage is to soak the cashew nuts for 3 to 8 hours.  Then blend them, together with your rejuvelac,
miso, yeast flakes and salt.  You have to leave this to do its thing for 24 to 28 hours at room temperature (about 67f/19c).

Next stage is to thicken the cheese.  You heat the ale, together with the agar powder and then add the cheese.  After you have been stirring it for about five minutes, it becomes smooth and glossy.  You then remove it from the heat and add your chives, I used dried as I could not find fresh.

  

Pour into a glass mould and allow to cool.

Artisan Vegan Cheese

Ⓥ PÜR Gum - Vegan Friendly Chewing Gum

PÜR Gum recently sent us a few samples of their gum to try out.  The gum is available in several flavours including peppermint, pomegranate mint, spearmint and wintergreen.  We tested out all the flavours.  Out of the four flavours the pomegranate mint one is our favourite.

PÜR Gum is vegan friendly, aspartame-free and sweetened with xylitol, which is a naturally-occurring sugar alcohol found in corn cobs and stalks.  It’s also naturally coloured and flavoured and free of genetically modified organisms.  It contains no gluten and is safe for people with celiac disease and any other wheat and gluten intolerance.  Each piece of gum contains 1 gram of xylitol and 2.4 calories.

Xylitol is a natural insulin stabilizer, meaning it doesn't cause a spike in blood sugar and helps reduce sugar and carbohydrate cravings.  It also helps to restore proper alkaline/acid balance in the mouth, inhibits plaque formation and helps prevent tooth decay.

I haven’t bought chewing gum for more years than I care to remember, but if I saw the PÜR Gum available then I would buy a packet or two… especially as it’s vegan friendly.

Links:

• Buy PÜR Gum on Amazon
• Twitter - PÜR Gum
• Facebook - PÜR Gum

PÜR Gum is distributed in the United Kingdom by Eterno Naturals.

Ⓥ Artisan Vegan Cheese: Following Miyoko Schinner's Air-Dried Cheddar Recipe

I've invested in a new vegan cheese book called "Artisan Vegan Cheese" by Miyoko Schinner and I thought I would blog my voyage into the land of vegan cheese production.

To begin with I am at a disadvantage as I am living in a house with no heating, and vegan cheese needs warmth to ferment.  So I've invested in a brew belt to keep my creation warm.  Not ideal, but it seems to do the trick.

First I have to track my ingredients down.

Quinoa - To make the rejuvelac - easy to find in any wholefood shop.
Yogurt  - I need to start making my own but this time around I've bought some Sojasun.
Cashews - Easy to find, I used organic ones.
Nutritional yeast flakes - I used B12 version that I already had in.
Brown miso - Easy to find in any wholefood shop.
Canola (rapeseed) oil - Bit tricky finding this until I found out that it was rapeseed oil.
Tapioca flour - I eventually found this in an international food store. I bought tapioca starch, I checked on line and it seems they are one and the same.
Agar agar powder - I gave up tracking this down locally and ordered it through Ebay.

The vegan cheese I have selected to make is called "Air-Dried Cheddar"

It has quite a few stages to its production, but I'm getting ahead of myself, first I need to make my rejuvelac.

Rejuvelac is basically the fermented juice from sprouted seeds, in my case I used quinoa.  I need to put a cup of quinoa in a jar with a small amount of water in a warm place, that's were my brew belt came into play.  For three days I need to keep the seeds wet and warm and change the water twice a day rinsing them before I put them back.  They will sprout and then I need to add a measured amount of spring water and wait again for two days.  At the end of this time if the Vegan Gods are smiling down on me, rejuvelac will be born.  This makes about a litre of fluid, it can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 weeks so it can last for several batches of vegan cheese.

So I have my rejuvelac and my ingredients and I'm now ready to start on my vegan cheese.

First stage is to soak the cashews from 3 to 8 hours.

Second stage is the blend - cashews, rejuvelac, yogurt, yeast flakes, miso, oil, salt.  I then have to keep this mixture nice and warm for 48 hours.  The photo below is after about 4 hours, it's already fermenting and smells great.

Two long days later and I'm ready to go to the third stage, adding the agar agar and the tapioca flour (or starch).

After whisking in the agar and the tapioca I use a wooden spoon (don't ask me why this is important, I'm just following instructions) to stir the mixture over a moderate heat for several minutes.  The sauce then becomes elastic and glossy.

I then transfer it to a glass bowl where I press it in and smooth off the top, it very quickly becomes a rubbery solid form.  You really need to act quickly here before it cools and goes rubbery, press it in firmly into your mould.  With retrospect I would possibly recommend that you use maybe three moulds so that you can make three smaller vegan cheeses instead of one big one.  Then you could freeze two and keep one in your fridge.

At this stage I had the opportunity to sample the vegan cheese from the remnants in the pan.
I am rubbish at describing how food tastes, so all I can say is that it tasted very good.

I then allow it to cool completely before covering it and refrigerate it for at least four hours.  Then I am ready for stage four.  I need to take the vegan cheese out of the bowl and then after washing my hands, sprinkle on to my wet hands some salt.  I then pat my salty hands all over the cheese.

Then its a case of waiting another four days.  The vegan cheese is placed on a cooling rack and left in a room with good air flow to do its thing.  If you did decide to make multiple smaller cheeses, you might not need to leave them for four days, maybe just three days, just taste them and see what you think.  Or give Miyoko a ring.

It's the end of the fourth day.  The vegan cheese has completed its voyage and has come to rest on my kitchen work top.  Gramondo said it tasted like a strong soft cheese, not too cheesy.  He liked it.  I liked it.  It was worth the effort.  It was easy to make.  Give it a go.

I've ordered some liquid smoke from America so I will be making "Smoked provolone" next from the same book.

The vegan cheese I've made above can kept for one month wrapped up in the fridge or four months in the freezer.  Not sure if mine will last that long with Gramondo around.  Thanks Miyoko!!

Related Links:

• Amazon - Buy the book online
• Artisan Vegan Life - Miyoko's website
• Facebook - Artisan Vegan Cheese
• Twitter - Follow Miyoko @miyokoskitchen

Ⓥ Animal Aid - Chocolate Chestnut Truffle Pudding

Recently we went to Herbies cafe in Exeter.
From outside we could see that the cafe looked cosy and welcoming with a 5 star rating on food hygiene and an array of vegan cakes available why would any full blooded vegan resist the temptation.
It was a cold day so we opted for a hot chocolate each and to accompany it I had a ginger lemon cake, Gramondo went for the chocolate chestnut brandy truffle cake. We didn't have much time to wait until a friendly member of staff arrived with our cakes. They looked fantastic! Really well presented with a cute little jug of cream and a tasty cape gooseberry on top. My ginger lemon cake consisted of a ginger biscuit base topped with a sumptuous lemon curd topping - Divine. Gramondo's truffle cake was a dense dark chocolate truffle that was really rich with a kick of brandy. As usual we swapped dishes half way through and as usual I came away with the better half of the deal. We both agreed that both of the cakes were truly moreish!

So when I got home I thought I would try to emulate the chocolate truffle cake. After much searching I gave up. Gramondo though was more tenacious and found a recipe on the Animal Aid website that looked simple enough and also looked very similar to what we had eaten in Herbies. So the next day we bought the three ingredients required and I manged to make it in a very short length of time. To be honest I added about three table spoons of agave syrup. We had it with some oatly pouring cream but unfortunately no cape gooseberry. Amazingly it was very close to the Herbies' truffle, very rich, not too sweet.

If you have a go at making it I hope you enjoy it!

Animal Aid - Chocolate Chestnut Truffle Pudding

Ⓥ My First Vegan Quiche in Fifteen Years

After returning home from the animal charity fayre I was full of beans or maybe cake and decided to make my first vegan quiche in about fifteen years.  After completing the task I'm wondering why its taken me all this time to make one.  I had already handed out the task of making the pastry so it was merely the filling that I needed to contend with.  So, basically all you need to do is decide what filling you want to put in your quiche, I chose onion, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, mushroom, green olive tapenade and red pepper.  After blind baking the pastry case I spread on some green olive tapenade, then sprinkled on the chopped garlic, onion, sun dried tomato.  Then place evenly around pieces of chopped mushroom, red pepper and pre steamed small florets of broccoli.  For the actual filling I blended a block of my favourite Clear Spot Organic Tofu with about one cup of soya milk (just add the milk a bit at a time until you get the correct consistency), seasoning and about 100g of grated Cheezly.  The consistency was that of thick yogurt.  This made three 16cm diameter quiches.  I then spooned the mixture on top of the vegetables. It was in the oven for about 45 minutes gas mark 6.  And voila there you have it, very easy indeed.

Ⓥ A Fun Day Out at Morley Animal Charity Fayre in Aid of Hope Pastures Horse and Donkey Sanctuary and Whitehall Dog Rescue

Today we ventured out of Vegan Chat Room Head Quarters to a local town called Morley where they were having an animal charity fayre in aid of Hope Pastures Horse and Donkey Sanctuary and Whitehall Dog Rescue, you might have already guessed this by the title of the post. It was well attended and had around about twenty stalls. There was a mix of animal charity/rights info stalls, tombolas and bric-a-brac stalls in aid of the various sanctuaries and of course a couple of stalls selling things to eat. One of the food stalls was That Old Chestnut based in Leeds, we have their link on the VCR website. They must have had about fifteen different types of vegan cakes/tiffins on display, it was an impressive sight to behold. We did our part in vegan cake research by sampling several of them. The consensus was that they were all very very good indeed!

Roasted hazelnut and chocolate bundt cake

Sticky stem ginger cake

Chocolate orange cake

Ⓥ Quick and Easy Vegan Truffles

As usual I have taken a long time to put together a blog post. This one is about some vegan truffles my friend Victoria made for me for Christmas. Just before I scoffed them I managed to spare a few minutes to take a photo of them and thought it was probably a good thing to put on the blog. So just five months later I've managed to get around to doing it.

I hope you will agree that they do look very good. Here is how Victoria made them.

Ingredients:

125g/4oz vegan cream cheese
300g/10oz sifted icing sugar
60g/2oz ground almonds
250g/8oz plain chocolate
A tablespoon of dark rum or brandy or anything else that takes your fancy
To coat - cocoa powder, desiccated coconut, chopped nuts
Mini paper cases

Method:

Soften the cream cheese with an electric whisk in a bowl. Then gradually add the icing sugar and ground almonds. Melt the chocolate, stir in the rum or brandy into the chocolate and add this to the cream cheese mixture, mix it in fast and thoroughly. Roll into small balls and put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes (this makes it easier to put the coating on without it all melting all over your hands) coat in the cocoa/coconut/rolled nuts.Pop into the paper cases and chill. Enjoy!!

Ⓥ One vegan and two meat eaters destined to see the vegan light.

Here is a photo of myself and my sister Gillian in the early 1970s spending some quality time with a beautiful brown cow (i am the one with the bunches in the middle); but shockingly only hours later to happily eat meat and dairy fed to us by our parents.
The cow sadly would not have "enjoyed" many more years on this planet before being slaughtered. Luckily both my sister and I saw the vegan light and stopped participating in animal abuse over two decades ago now. But what I wonder triggers the individual to turn vegan, why are most humans missing that empathy that causes them to question what is thought of by the masses as normal, the slaughter and consumption of other sentient beings.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the photo.

Ⓥ Clear Spot Tofu for My Dinner

Recently I put in a wholefood order with Lembas, my local wholefood wholesalers. Amongst the various vegan delights was one of my favourites - Clear Spot Organic Tofu - As it says on the pack "The complete and versatile vegetable protein food". To me, it puts all other commercial "tofu" to shame. I have to hold back from eating it straight from the packet. Another bonus for me is that it is local to where I live, starting its life at R&R Tofu Ltd on a small industrial estate in Malton North Yorkshire. http://www.clearspottofu.co.uk/
R&R started producing their tofu in 1985, so are by now experts in everything tofu related.

So, anyway, I ordered half a case of the 450g packets expecting half a case - three packets to arrive. Due to a cock up on the Lembas front they delivered a whole case - six packets. Now there was a three week use by on the tofu and even though I do live on the edge when it comes to "use bys" choosing usually to use my own common sense and extend the "use by" by several days/weeks/months depending on the item in question. In this case I was aware that tofu can be a little bit of a stickler when it comes to when it wants to be eaten by.
So for the past two weeks I have made two cheesecakes, one spinach and tofu curry, butternut squash soup with added tofu and today a butternut squash spring onion and red pepper with satay sauce concoction with basmati rice.

So I thought I would pass on my knowledge of this wonderful tofu to anyone who wandered by and read this blog.

Ⓥ A festive message from Peteronsax

As I begin to prepare tomorrow’s Christmas lunch, I realize how much my tastes have changed over the last 6 months - since giving up animal products. Now that I eat only what’s good for me, I really have developed a taste for it. For example, if I’ve eaten a lot of fruit and vegetables, I feel hunger for beans and peas, and also the other way around. My newly developed tastes lead me to a healthy and balanced diet. And I have almost no cravings for any animal products or their by-products.

In fact, I feel revolted when walking past the meat fridges in the supermarket. Other shoppers see beef and pork and lamb and chicken – while I just see mutilated dead bodies.

Yesterday in Aldi I imagined a fridge full of human body parts, skinned and deboned of course, except for the occasional severed hand and a head with the eyes still open. (I don’t think anyone else saw it).

To lighten my mood, I pictured a cartoon of a flesh-eating zombie, surrounded by human and non-human meat. And from his blood-stained mouth came the words “What! You don’t eat dead bodies? So where do you get your protein from?”

Merry Christmas and enjoy your Christmas lunch.

Peteronsax