Raw Cashew Goat Cheese – the experiment

For me the most difficult animal product to eliminate from our diet wasn’t meat, Greek yogurt, European butter, or even heavy cream, it was cheese. I have loved cheese for as long as I can remember. I have been thinking about this recipe since the April issue of the Vegetarian Times came out. However, life got in the way and never found time to make it. Yesterday I decided to make the cheese, but I wanted it to be raw. So I knew it this cheese was going in the dehydrator even without directions as to time.

The original recipe called for tahini, which I omitted. I have tried other “cheese” recipes in the past that called for tahini and found they didn’t really taste like “cheese” to me. Other than that change I followed the recipe, mostly. Here is what I did.

Raw Cashew Goat Cheese – the experiment
Makes approximately 10 ounces

Ingredients:

¾ cup raw cashews
2 cups water
6 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons water
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Place the cashews in a jar and cover with water. Allow the cashews to stand overnight. Drain the cashews, rinse and drain again.

Place the remaining ingredients in your food processor or blender and process until completely smooth. Processing took about 2 minutes in my machine.

Cut enough cheesecloth to cover the mixture at least three times. Scrape the cashew cheese into the cheesecloth and roll into a log. Place the cheese log in a wire mesh strainer in a bowl let stand overnight at room temperature. I kept mine in the microwave to keep nosey felines out of the mixture.

In the morning place the cheese in your dehydrator until the cheese is set on the outside but still soft. I left the cheese in the dehydrator for 24 hours.

When the cheese is done remove the cheesecloth and scrape the cheese into a bowl. Then use a fork to fluff the cheese. I did this because the exterior was firmer than the interior and I wanted the consistency to be even throughout.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 127.93
Calories From Fat (87%) - 111.56

Total Fat - 12.81g
Saturated Fat - 1.3g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 262.23mg
Potassium - 60.43mg
Total Carbohydrates - 2.96g
Fiber - 0.29g
Sugar - 0.63g
Protein - 1.47g

Comments:

The texture of the cheese was quite good. However, the biggest problem I have with this cheese is the amount of salt. We found this cheese to be so salty that I used a tiny amount of it on a cracker, and covered it with Mostarda. Next time I will definitely start with ¼ of the salt when I make this next. The salt issue may be due to the fact that I have reduced our salt intake so much, or it could be that dehydrating was more drying than baking (the method used in the original recipe). Next time I am also going to eliminate adding the 2 tablespoons of water. I don’t think it does anything but add additional water to be removed during draining and baking/drying. There is one good thing about the cheese being too salty. I didn’t use much of it on our cracker reducing both the fat and calories.

I think this was a good experiment, but it does need a bit of modification. When I am happy with the results I will post the final recipe.