Artisan Vegan Cheese Paperback – Illustrated, August 8, 2012

So, I got my cookbook and took it home, and started to make the rejuvelac that night. The steps were very simple, and each part takes only a few minutes to do, but whole the process takes several days to complete. No matter. I got the fermented rejuvelac, and at first I was scared because it smelled like something rotten, even though it looked exactly like what the author described. My husband said it smelled exactly like something you would use to make cheese, but I was frightened I had gotten an invasive bacteria in my rejuvelac and it was ruined. But despite my doubt I decided to make the cheese and just...see. I forgot to soak the cashews and I had to add some of the drinkable variety of coconut milk (it's what I had on hand) to make the mixture blend, and I also forgot salt. first-time jitters. It smelled horrible when I poured it into the bowl, and I had mostly decided I wasn't going to try it, but I left it in the fridge for a couple days cause it was such a tragedy to waste the cashews. Maybe my husband would eat it. He good-naturedly picked up some wheat crackers to eat with our cheese, and when he took the cheese out of the fridge and I smelled it, it smelled exactly like cheese! I was astonished. It smelled just like I would expect cheese to smell. I was still reluctant to try it, but my husband got me a cracker with cheese -- the cheese mixture was a spreadable consistency like cream cheese -- and handed it to me. I sprinkled on some salt and put it in my mouth, still feeling positive that I probably ruined everything and now we would both die. But it was yummy, and I didn't die, and I also didn't get sick, and it was cheese! Oozy, creamy, shmeary, wonderful cheese! It was so much like chevre. In fact, I think it makes a very satisfying substitute for chevre, and I can totally imagine baking up a loaf of french bread and sitting down with this cheese and sharing it with someone wonderful. So, I left out a couple of ingredients but it still came out tasting tart, a little lemony, with a creamy, creamy texture from the cashews. It tasted so much better than the vegan cheeze I've bought in the store, and it was made with three ingredients. Four, if you count the salt I sprinkled on.The yogurt was much easier to make, but I filled up the jar almost to the top and screwed the lid on when I set it on the counter, and the mixture pressurized the jar. I noticed that there was yogurt dripping down the side of the jar and I opened it over the sink, and the yogurt came burbling out. I think I lost about a fourth cup, so be smart and use two of the one quart size jars, and don't fill them up all the way.OK, now I'm off to make more cheese! Hooray!

I've had the books for a couple weeks now and have made the following recipes:Air-dryed Parmesan: My first try and it did not work for me, probably because my yogurt cheese was too wet.Meltable Cheddar: Good flavor, just barely sliceable, didn't melt, I think because I didn't cook it long enough. Very good on our vegan burgers, though.Meltable Muenster: Excellent flavor! It wasn't around long enough to experiment with melting.Brie: Oh, my! Just wonderful!Fresh Mozzerella: This was incredible and so pretty in the jar. I bought a small cookie dough scoop to make baby Boccancino.Farmer's Cheese: Easy and authentic.Air-dryed Gouda: Drying now, but although darker than the Gouda pictured in the book, seems to be working correctly.Air-dryed Emmantaler: Again, drying now and quite pretty. Has a faint pink tinge as I used sauerkraut that I had fermenting that was made partly with red cabbage.Air-dryed Cheddar: Culturing on my counter and already quite tasty.Sharp Cheddar: Again, culturing and tasty.Yogurt: Delicious! I haven't eaten yogurt since I quit keeping goats years ago. None of the store-bought yogurt tasted good to me and now I rarely use animal products. The soy yogurts I have sampled were awful. I'm eating yogurt again!I found the recipes to be easy. I can see how one could make a mistake or two, but it's not hard to figure out where on went wrong and you can get lots of tips on the author's website if you run into a problem. The actual time spent working the recipes is minimal, but there are lengthy waiting periods while products are hanging, culturing, aging, ect. That, however, shouldn't be surprising as we are making cheese! Yay! I was able to source all the ingredients locally in my small town at the little grocery store a block from my house with the exception of the carrageenan, which I easily found online. I was advised to purchase the Kaffa Carrageenan. I am having a difficult time finding the fermented tofu (for the Piquant Brown Cheese) with reasonable shipping charges, but will check at the Asian Market when I go to the "big city" in a couple of weeks.I often refer to myself as "vegan with occasional cheese mishaps". Now I will just be "vegan".So glad the author took the time to share her knowledge. There is a special place in my heart for her.