When I worked at the Wine Bar, I used to make a very non-vegan Blue Cheese Cheesecake on a shortbread crust topped with homemade cranberry/apricot chutney, candied walnuts and a balsamic reduction. I want to try my hand at a vegan version soon.
So.. the secret ingredient is Fermented Tofu. I think I originally got the idea to use it from Bryanna . She has been an inspiration for more than a few of my recipes.
This bottle is 4 oz and I divided it in half and used it all for the recipe. I drain the liquid and use it to thin out the nuts if needed. It's super smelly! Which is why it makes great blue cheese!
OK... here ya go! I really hope that this is not a let down recipe. Part of the reason I haven't posted it is that I don't want to disappoint people... but I KNOW It's good because I've served it to quite a few people and whenever it was in the salad bar at the health food store I worked at, people went nuts over it.
Blue Cheese
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds
- 4 oz jar fermented tofu
- ½ cup sauerkraut, drained VERY well
- 1 teaspoon acidophillius culture
- Salt to taste
- 2 T miso
- 1 teaspoon blue green algae powder (or chlorella)
- Blend the cashews with ¼ cup sauerkraut, 1 T miso and 1/2 jar tofu and the liquid along ½ teaspoon culture. Set aside for several days (on the counter is the best)
- Blend the pumpkin seeds with ¼ cup sauerkraut, 1 T miso and 1/2 jar of tofu and the liquid along with ½ teaspoon culture and the algae. Set aside for several days (on the counter is best)
- Mix them together and salt to taste.
- The longer this sits, the BETTER and cheesier it tastes.
You can spoon the mixture on a dehydrator tray or sheet pan (in a warm oven) and dehydrate at 115 for 5 hours to create a crumbly texture.
So.. there it is! Now go make it and tell me what you did with it!
Some ideas:
- Buffalo Tofu Salad with Blue Cheese
- Arugula Salad with Blue Cheese, Dried Cranberries and Walnuts
- Blue Cheese Cheesecake
- Pizza! (chutney, blue cheese, arugula)
- Pasta with creamy blue cheese sauce and roasted apples and walnuts
- Stir it into soups
How will you use your Blue Cheese?
The comment system is broken and I have lost all of the comments on the blog... I'm sorry for the delay in answering the question about the Fermented Bean Curd.. you can use either the spicy or regular fermented bean curd.
ReplyDeletethis looks awesome! where would one procure acidophillius culture and/or fermented tofu? i have a guess about the tofu, but am flummoxed by the acidophillius culture .....
ReplyDeletethanks!
where did you obtain the non dairy acidophillius culture?
ReplyDeleteI love this recipe. I am going to try it this weekend. I plan on putting on top of coleslaw and stuffing it into dates which I am going to wrap in my smoked chipotle eggplant "bacon". Thank you for your great ideas.
ReplyDeleteHi, Melody. I prepared this three days ago as directed, and left the two separate mixtures out to ripen a few days (lightly covered with a quality cheesecloth).
ReplyDeleteThought you would be interested to know that the BLUE mixture (with the chlorella) developed spots of white mold all over the surface. I tasted the mold and it was innocuous, but I scraped it off. In my house, that mold is probably aspergillus oryzae (as in koji), floating around since I made soy sauce two years ago.
I've combined the two mixtures, and have frozen the bulk of it for later. The fresh balance will make it into a blue cheese type dressing, just as soon as I get the extra water out of my (home-made) tofu, to crumble and mix with your blue "cheese", and some lemon juice, vinegar, and herbs.
Great-tasting recipe!