Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Vegan MoFo Day 16: Soft-Curd, Fat-Free Soy Cheese


With a bit of fear in my heart, I decided to try a soft-curd soy cheese from Frank and Rosalie Hurd's Ten Talents (1968). Having had many negative (and some positive) soy cheese encounters, I was far from sure. My fears deepened when I realized I had only defatted soy flour on hand. Fat-free soy cheese? The chance of a nasty result loomed large.

I should not doubt Rosalie Hurd! This worked alarmingly well, and I will definitely make it again (and again, and again).

In a blender, mix a scant cup of soy flour (defatted works just fine!) and a quart of water until very well combined. The Hurds warn to stay on the scant side of a cup of soy flour. Apparently, if you get the liquid too thick, it will not curd. Pour the liquid into the top of a double boiler, and cook over boiling water for 20 minutes. Remove it from the heat, and immediately stir in 1/4 c fresh lemon juice and 3/4 t salt. Put the lid on the pot, and leave it alone for 20 minutes, during which it will curd.

Pour into a strainer lined with cheesecloth, and allow to drain until it is as dry as you like. After draining, I stirred in some granulated onion, granulated garlic, and smoked paprika. I can see many flavor experiments with this cheese. Try it!

12 comments:

Monique a.k.a. Mo said...

Must try!

JohnP said...

Really, you must try! I am already making it a second time tonight. The defatted soy flour came from the baking aisle of the regular grocery store. (I think it was Hodgson Mill brand, but I long ago dumped it into a jar.)

panda with cookie said...

Rosalie Hurd
Throwing down curd
soft vegan cheese
send me some please
Awwww yeah.

JohnP said...

I've been panda-rapped!

Anonymous said...

I wonder if this technique could be used to make a warm cheese. I had a recipe for a warm yogurt cheese meant to be served for breakfast with olives, but never got around to trying it before giving up dairy altogether.

JohnP said...

Chris, it was still very warm when I first drained it, and it was good that way.

Anonymous said...

does it say de fatted flour or this is just the soy flour that we usually get from bob red mill. I need to wait till my mom mails me my cheese cloth..cannot find any where I am now but still I am intrigued by this.

JohnP said...

Taymer, it does say defatted soy flour. Some soy flour is defatted, some is made from the whole bean. I am pretty sure this was made by Hodgson Mill. I bet the whole bean soy flour would work fine, too, although it might be a bit richer. I made a second batch tonight, flavored with black pepper, garlic, and a wee bit of olive oil.

Corrin Radd said...

So what do you do with this stuff?

JohnP said...

I've been eating it on toast or with crackers but I think it would be a great ricotta sub.

Veg-In-Training said...

Wow. This sounds like something I must try down the road.

Anonymous said...

This recipe was fantastic and worked out perfectly! Thank you so much for sharing, I will definitely be making this often :)