Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Hey everyone, I have this book, but I've been too intimidated to bust into it yet. Now, I have a big party coming up in a week, and I want to make a veganized version of this feta-cream cheese spread (http://thepomegranatediaries.com/2012/1 ... se-spread/)

Are there any suitable recipes here that I could make in just 6 days? I know I could sort through it all again, but I'd love some tips from those of you who've done it already. thanks!!!

I made the air-dried emmentaler and it came out tasty. I've been using potato flour/starch instead of tapioca lately and it has improved the taste a lot.

All the air-dried cheeses I've made have cracked horribly, so they are not very pretty to present. I wonder if the temperature's not right? Now in the winter my kitchen is about 68F/20C (when the oven/stove's not on) but the spot I air-dry the cheeses in is probably like 66F/19C. I haven't had any problems with mould.

Here's a few photos I just snapped of the emmentaler:

My air-dried cheeses have all cracked so far too. I've been serving them in quarters so it doesn't look so lame.

Ameyfm, try either of the chevres, boursin, sun-dried tomato basil, brie, gruyere, sharp cheddar or mozzarella. (The beginning part of the book has the faster cheeses.) You should be able to do any of those within 5 days. If you can purchase rejuvelac you'll probably be able to cut the time in half.

great! what was the cause of the mold?

Thanks mandycoot! It seems like maybe a chevre would work best for a spreadable type thing. Where on earth does one buy rejuvalac??

I live in the Bay area (peninsula) and I can buy Rejuvenation Company's rejuvelac (wheat-based) at my local Whole Foods in the large bottles, and at least one of the health food stores locally carries it in the tiny bottles.

Ok! I tracked down rejuvelac. It's all very exciting.

I do have one more question for you artisan cheeze pros though - when she says to put the cheese in glass bowl and "cover" for 3 days ... does she mean tightly covered? saran wrap? totally sealed? covered with a dish towel?

thanks!

Well, the mold levels in the air went down, so I didn't actually have to do much! But I started stopping my rejuvelac and cheeses a little early compared to the book recommendations and that kept anything from growing. It's already pretty hot here so they still fermented within the time I gave them.

in my experience cheese cloth or a dish towel or parchment rubberbanded loosely around the top worked well. when i tried a few times with saran wrap, i got mold really fast.

mandycoot, which were your favorites? I'm going to have some rejuvelac left over, and I was thinking of starting another cheese while I'm at it. How was the gouda?

Thanks for the response. Hope this doesn't seem like a stupid question: how do you know what the mold levels in the air are? Is it humidity or is it just that you didn't get mold on the cheese?

Well, in Austin mold allergies are so bad that they report mold levels every morning on the news. I wouldn't worry about it if it's not a thing people already talk about!

I loved the gouda and chevres. My husband's favorite so far is the hard gruyere. I didn't love the flavor of the cheddars but they were pretty good.

wow! i had no idea mold levels could be measured generally like that! thanks

Is it the same for rejuvelac or can that be sealed?

I sealed my rejuvelac because of mold and it still fermented just fine (I had it in mason jars).

awesome! you guys are so great for answering all my questions!! high fives for PPK helpers!

I'm sorry if this has been asked. I searched! But I couldn't find it. Has anyone made the creamy no-bake cheesecake? It calls for 5 cups of Cashew Cream Cheese, but it then leads you to page 55, which is a recipe for Cashew Cream. Any input?

My hard gruyere is ready... yay!! :)

Look for the cashew cream cheese recipe in the book's index! It basically is soaked cashews, yoghurt and minimal water, left to incubate.

My first attempt at cheese, the boursin, is delicious and I haven't even finished riping it yet!

It's just as I remember it. I subbed the parsley for green (spring) onions, and added cracked black pepper, as my favourite boursin flavour in my pregan days were garlic and chive and that was all I had in my fridge/cupboards.

The basic cashew cheese turned out really tangy after cultivating roughly 28 hours. But then I added a bit more rejuvelac than was in the book, I really wanted the cashews to blend smoothly. But I guess I'll just have to soak my cashews a lot longer than 4 hours next time. But I didn't mind the taste of it, it was really cheesy and didn't taste of cashews at all.

All in all, I'm really pleased. I'll try the sharp cheddar next. My order for carrageenan and agar powder arrived today. Yay!

Thanks..my question was whether I should be using the Cream Cheese, as it says, or the Cream, since that is the page it leads to. Does that make sense? Have you made it with the Cream Cheese?

That was an error in the first printing of the book. It was corrected in the second printing. (It is now going into its fourth printing!) You should be using the cream cheese, not the cashew cream.

Great, thanks Miyoko! I thought so but....wanted to make sure :)

So for me, I made the rookie mistake of not cooking the agar long enough to make the fresh mozzarella. When I scooped the balls into the ice bath, they stayed soft...very soft!

So I had a nosy around Miyoko's website to see if there was any suggestions. On the forums, someone who had the same problem took out the mozzi balls, melted them down and added tapioca flour, 1 tbsp, and re made the agar mixture with 1/2 cup water to 1 tbsp of the agar cooked it for about 10 mins, then whisked it hard into the cheese. She re scooped them into the ice bath and they hardened nicely.

So of course, I did the same. I don't have tapioca flour, so I used rice flour. And I now have proper mozzarella cheese. Yay!

Just thought I'd post for anyone in the same position.