chipotle firm vegan cheese (aquafaba recipe)

Someone ask me if there was a way to make the cheese in my new book without oil (the Everyday Cheese that appears in Aquafaba) and while I've been experimenting with it, I wanted to try a different version - one with a different flavor and a firmer texture.

I came up with a funky, Gouda-type cheese with a kick: Chipotle Firm Vegan Cheese.

This is about as firm as I could get the cheese using agar and no nuts, and unripened. This cheese is ready as soon as it cools down. If you want to age it, I am sure it will get more firm. You could put it in your fridge (wrapped in paper towels for a few days, is a method Sky Conroy recommends and I think I will try it with these cheeses) to age and dry out a bit. It should certainly become more firm, but if you want something quick, here it is.

The flavor is dark, deep and funky (like cheese) and it melts if you give it enough time and moist heat. I have placed a slice directly onto the pan to warm up and then, using a spatula, placed it on the burger or bread (for grilled cheese - really nice!) and then continued to cook it until it melted. Use a lid and a few teaspoons of water in the pan to provide that moist heat.

The cheese is simple to make, but you will need non-dairy yogurt. If you make your own, you are ahead of the game, but if you buy commercially made yogurt, try not to use the coconut-based one because your cheese will taste like coconuts.

First, combine aquafaba and agar and set it aside to soften. Make sure to mix it well, not like the picture.

Because I wanted to make this either soy-free or nut-free and with little fat, I am using yogurt as the base of the cheese. The yogurt also supplies vegan lactic acid, which gives cheese tang, but if you have some vegan lactic acid hanging around then add 1/2 teaspoon of that as well.

Blend the rest of the ingredients...

...cook the agar and aquafaba mixture until the agar dissolves, and add the mixture. Whisk well and cook until the temperature reaches at least 195-degrees F - about 5 minutes.

Stir constantly to avoid burning to the bottom and transfer to a mold or container.

Now, admittedly, the photo below (and the first one above) was the very first version of this cheese. I wasn't satisfied with the texture and made it a few more times before I settled on the recipe below. The one pictured is a bit softer than I liked and the recipe I am actually sharing is for one that is firm, but not so firm that you feel like you are eating one of those agar plates from high school microbiology. Fun vision, right?

Oh and hey! If you by chance got this far in the post, and by chance purchased Aquafaba, and by chance are enjoying the recipes, and by chance wouldn't mind, could you scoot over to Amazon and leave feedback? Only, if you don't mind. The link to the book is right HERE.

Chipotle Firm Vegan Cheese - aquafaba recipe
Makes 1 block

1/2 cup aquafaba**
3 teaspoons agar powder

1/2 cup unsweetened plain nondairy milk
1/2 cup unsweetened plain nondairy yogurt (not coconut)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons tapioca starch
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
1/2 teaspoon vegan lactic acid (optional)
2 teaspoons dark miso (not mellow white miso)
1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chipotle in adobo puree


1. Combine the aquafaba and agar in a medium saucepan. Mix well and set aside to soften. 
2. Combine the milk, yogurt, yeast, starch, salt, garlic, lactic acid, miso, Worcestershire and chipotle in a blender. Blend very well. Set aside. Have a 2-cup mold ready for the cheese.
3. Heat the saucepan of aquafaba over medium heat. Bring to boil and cook for 1 minutes. Slowly add the blender mixture to the aquafaba mixture while stirring with a whisk. Whisk until smooth and bring back to boil. Once boiling, switch to a spatula and cook the mixture for 5 minutes. The cheese should reach 195-degrees F for the agar to completely dissolve. 
4. Immediately transfer the cheese to the mold and cool. Once cool place in the refrigerator to completely chill and firm up. Remove from the mold and slice and serve.  



** Although aquafaba is best if homemade using the recipe provided in the book, you can use aquafaba from canned chickpeas. Use the organic, low-sodium, canned chickpeas and strain off the liquid into a measuring cup using a fine mesh strainer. Note the amount of liquid you acquired, then add it to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces by 1/3. Cool the aquafaba completely before using.



© 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

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sabich

It is my husband's birthday week and, in our family, the birthday person gets to pick all the week's meals. And that means that some members of the family have figured out that they can take great advantage of this tradition. Which in turn means that I mostly get to cook meals that they love, with no room for new recipes. So, the blog suffers as no new content gets made.

This week's menu choices have been, among other things, Benedict (recipe in Everyday Vegan Eats) Cajun SteaK, Twice-Baked Crispy Gluten, Chickpeas and Dumplings (another one in Everyday Vegan Eats), Mama's Bean Soup (in Everyday Vegan Eats), Corned Cabbage (another in EVE! - I told you it is our family's favorite meals), Seitan a la King,  Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce, etc. Yes, hubby loves seitan!

But I did manage to squeeze in this Israeli sandwich, which happens to be a traditional breakfast sandwich! I love to discover breakfast meals from other parts of the world because they tend to be more than just sweets or variations on bacon and eggs.

Now that I said that, I do have to clarify that the original does come with hard cooked eggs. We'll disregard that part, though.

Most cultures will take something that is leftover and transform it into a breakfast meal and this shows to be true time and time again. Take this sandwich for instance. The eggs are cooked beforehand. The hummus is made before, as well as the eggplant, being leftover from another meal. Maybe the salad is made fresh, but the rest is just from some other time, all stuffed into a fluffy pita bread.

Most of the rest of the world doesn't have roasted eggplant leftover or hummus, for that matter, although the hummus aspect is coming true in most households nowadays.

Whether you have this as a breakfast meal or for lunch or dinner, let's try to make this as pain free as possible.

Because I have omitted the eggs I wanted to replace it with something carb and protein rich and because ful medames are already a Middle Eastern breakfast staple, I figured that cooking fava beans with the eggplant made sense.

The fava beans you are looking for are these:

They are not the large fresh favas, but instead younger beans that are cooked and canned so you don't have to blanch and peel them individually.

You cook the eggplant first to soften before adding the fava beans and then continue to cook it until tender and broken down. This is a nice compromise between having leftover fried eggplant and cooking it fresh separate from the beans.

If you don't have hummus, whip up a fresh batch, otherwise use any store-bought or homemade hummus you have. 

The salad is an essential component consisting of basic ingredients such as cucumber, parsley, tomato, onion and lemon juice.

The most intriguing part of this sandwich is the mango sauce (Amba) which was originally brought to the Middle East by way of India's mango chutney. In addition to the mango sauce, there is typically tahini sauce on the sandwich (a rip on toom sauce). 

I love toom sauce (there is a cashew-based toom in Vegan Bowls and an authentic one in Aquafaba) and I love mango chutney and the easiest way to make the two is to combine them. Best of both in one sauce. I have to say that this is an amazing sauce so if you make nothing but the sauce you are still a winner. 

After all those components are done, make your sandwich and eat it, too. 

Short cuts: hummus, salad, sauce. Make the eggplant-fava bean ahead or the same day, either way it'll be delish.

Sabich - Israeli Sandwich

Serves 4

Sautee:

1 medium eggplant, peeled and chopped

1/2 medium tomato, chopped

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/4 jalapeno chile, chopped

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon paprika

1 (15-ounce) can fava beans, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup vegetable broth

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Salad:

1/2 medium tomato, chopped

1/2 cucumber, chopped or shaved

1/2 small onion, shaved or sliced thin

1/4 cup parsley, minced

Fresh lemon juice, to taste

Sauce:

6 garlic cloves

4 tablespoons tahini

3 tablespoons mango chutney

3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Other:

4 pita breads

1/2 cup shaved cabbage

Hummus

1. Sautee: Combine the eggplant, tomato, onion, jalapeno, cumin and paprika in a medium saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat until the eggplant softens, about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the fava beans and broth and continue to cook covered until the eggplant is tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook until there is no more broth left in the pot. Season with salt and black pepper. 

2. Salad: Combine the tomato, cucumber, onion and parsley in a medium bowl. Season with lemon juice, salt and black pepper. 

3. Sauce: Add the garlic to a food processor or blender and process to mince. Add the tahini, chutney, water and lemon juice. Process until smooth. Add a little more water if needed. The sauce should be pourable but still thick. Season with salt and pepper.

4. To serve, warm the pita and split. Spread with hummus and add the bean mixture. Top with the salad, cabbage and the sauce. 

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