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Aged Chèvre with Herbes de Provence
The Big Cheese, Miyoko Skinner----sent by Susan
This dairy-free cheese comes amazingly close to the original. it's a great recipe and very rewarding to create. The recipe calls for herbes de Provence, but you could roll the molded cylinder in any number of herbs, cracked peppercorns, or even nuts.
470 ml 2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 3 hours and drained
59 ml1/4 cup rejuvelac (see recipe)
5 ml1 teaspoon salt, divided
15 ml1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
5 ml1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 ml1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
30 ml2 tablespoons herbes de Provence
First prepare: Rejuvelac, from The Sprouting Book, Ann Wigmore (Note---this will take a few days.)
120 ml1/2 cup soft white wheatberries (or other whole grains such as oats, buckwheat, quinoa, rye, or barley)
1420 ml6 cups water (filtered water recommended)
Soak wheatberries in a half-gallon glass jar, covered with cheesecloth or other breathable lid, for 10-15 hours. Drain off water, but do not rinse wheatberries, and let the berries sprout for 2 days. After this time, pour water over wheat sprouts (use about 3 times the amount of wheat sprouts). Cover jar and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. The water will have fermented into rejuvelac. Pour the liquid rejuvelac into another jar, cover and refrigerate. Discard grains. The rejuvelac will keep for several days in this way.
1. In a blender, combine cashews, rejuvelac, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and process until smooth. Transfer mixture into a medium bowl, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours until it has a thick texture and reaches desired level of sharpness.
2. Into cheese mixture, add nutritional yeast, lemon juice and zest. Pour into a 7-inch tubular mold (I used a paper towel roll lined with parchment paper--see photos) and chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours until firm.
3. On parchment paper, sprinkle herbs and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Remove firmed-up cheese from mold and transfer to parchment paper; roll the cheese in herbs until completely covered. Place the roll on a wire rack and set in a cool place for 2-4 days until firm. Store chèvre in refrigerator wrapped in parchment paper for up to 8 weeks.
Yields one 7-inch roll.