Raw cashew cheese

I’ve always been intrigued by the raw cheeses (read: vegan and nothing cooked over 115 degrees) I’ve had a various raw restaurants. They look like cheese… and taste like cheese… but they’re made from nuts. Curious. I saw a recipe for a raw cheese spread and couldn’t resist trying.

It was surprisingly simple to make. Yes, it does take foresight, as you have to soak the cashews for 2 hours; however, it takes about 10 minutes once that process is complete. I liked the results. At first, I thought it was too sweet and buttery and garlicky… but after it had sat for 24 hours per the instructions, I liked it a lot more. It’s a great dish to take to a party with some delicious crackers. I tried it with some za’tar sprinkled on top and it was fab.

Raw Cashew Cheese
Chocolate&Zucchini

- 1 1/2 cups plain cashew nuts (not roasted or salted)
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup water
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or good vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- freshly ground pepper

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Place the nuts in a salad bowl, cover with fresh water, and let stand for 2 hours.

Drain the nuts and place them in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add 1/4 cup water and the rest of the ingredients, and mix until thoroughly puréed, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl every once in a while. Add a little more water and blend again to adjust the consistency, if necessary; the cheese will get a little more solid as it sets.

Transfer to a bowl, cover, and let stand somewhere cool for 24 hours before placing in the fridge, where it will keep for another 5 days.

Quinoa with Sauteed Mushrooms

Last week I received a signed copy of Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking–I was so excited. I love her blog and was excited to read her approach to eating and try some recipes not on the web.

I picked this week’s recipe because I was intrigued by the notion of mixing quinoa with cheese. I’m also a huge fan of cooking with wine–I find it lends a really lovely flavor to vegetables.

I liked the recipe… I want to play around with the cheese I use… It would also be good with goat cheese or french feta, I think. Do note that it makes A LOT of quinoa–a lot. Unless you’re cooking for a ton of people and this is your only source of food for that meal, I would make 1 cup of (dry) quinoa… 1 1/2 cups tops.

Quinoa and Crescenza with Sauteed Mushroom
Heidi Swanson

6 tbsp clarified butter or olive oil [I used half of each]
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups quinoa, rinsed
1 cup good quality dry white wine [I used pinot grigio]
2 cups water
2 big pinches of red pepper flakes
1 lb mushrooms, slice
3-4 oz Crescenza cheese*

* If you can’t find this tangy cheese, try substituting taleggio, gruyere, or brie. I used taleggio.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter/oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes, or until the onion starts to soften and get translucent. Add the quinoa, wine, and 1 tsp salt, until the liquid has reduced a bit.

Add the water, return to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the quinoa opens up, revealing a little spiral, and is soft and pleasant to chew.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter/oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, along with the red pepper flakes and a few pinches of salt. Stir in the mushrooms and cook without stirring for a few minutes, until they’ve begun to brown and release their juices. Then shake the skillet every few minutes until the mushrooms are evenly browned, about 4 more minutes. [I added in a glug of the white wine towards the inn to deglaze the pan]. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the quinoa is perfectly tender yet textured, drain off any excess liquid and stir in the cheese. Ladle into big bowls and top with the mushrooms.

Serves 4-6.

Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake

This is by far my favorite recipe from Heidi Swanson’s recipe blog.  I made it in early August while at the beach with my family, but grated the zucchini too fine… and then couldn’t find an appropriate baking dish… and ended up with Zucchini Ricotta muffins.  They were tasty, but I thought I’d try it again.

I’m a HUGE fan of this recipe. It’s super easy, hearty but not overly filling… definitely one to try.

Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake

2 cups zucchini, unpeeled & grated [use a box grater, not a microplane]
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese [I used 2 c full fat; 1/2 c 1% ricotta]
1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese [I used pecorino]
2 shallots, chopped [I used 1/2 red onion]
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped [I omitted this --the farmer's market was out of dill]
zest of one lemon
2 large eggs, well beaten
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled
drizzle of olive oil

Preheat oven to 325F degrees, racks the middle. Butter/oil a 7-inch springform pan.

In a strainer, toss the shredded zucchini with the salt and let sit for ten minutes. Now aggressively squeeze and press out as much moisture as you can. Set aside.

In the meantime, combine the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, shallots, garlic, dill and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs and continue mixing until well combined. Now stir in the shredded zucchini. Fill the springform pan with the ricotta mixture and place on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for sixty minutes. If there is any moisture left on top of the cake at this point, carefully use a bit of paper towel to dab it off. Now sprinkle with the goat cheese and return to the oven for another 20 -30 minutes or until the goat cheese is melted and the cake barely jiggles in the center (it will set up more as it cools).

At this point, if the cake is baked and set, but the top isn’t quite golden, I’ll zap it with the broiler (just about a minute) to get a bit more color on top. Remove from the oven and let cool five minutes, then release the cake from its pan. Cool completely, serve at room temperature drizzled with a bit of olive oil and a few sprigs of dill.

Serves 8.

Update: It’s even better the second day.  I heated it up in a non-stick skillet, so that the cheese got a bit crispy.