Vegan Almond Feta

Ah, but for valiant efforts! Alicia at Vegan Epicurean has raved about this vegan cheese forever. We have very little (very expensive) feta, so I was eager to find a replacement. Unfortunately, I also lack a blender and reliable oven in Argentina.

Ingredients:
1 cup of blanched almonds
Juice and zest of one lemon (approximately ¼ cup of juice)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 clove of raw garlic (if small clove use it all)
1 ¼ - 1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup water, or more if necessary

Directions:
In a jar with a lid, cover the blanched almonds with water and refrigerate 24 to 48 hours hours. Then drain the nuts rinse them thoroughly and drain again. The longer soak seems to make the nuts process more completely.
Move the drained nuts and the remaining ingredients to a food processor and puree until the mixture is very smooth but has a very slightly crumbly texture. This took 8 minutes during which time I periodically stopped the processor and scraped the side of the container and restarted the machine. If after 10 minutes the consistency is not smooth you can add up to another ¼ cup of water to help the mixture to process.
If you used the extra water to process the nuts, then take the nut mixture and move it to a strainer lined with three layers of cheesecloth.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees when you are ready to proceed.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the cheese onto the baking sheet and form it into a flat disk that is about ¾ of an inch thick. Bake the cheese until it begins to become slightly firm on the top. (About an hour)

Remove the cheese from the oven and allow it to cool to about room temperature before you move it to a serving platter. If you have a wide spatula and have cooked it long enough it will move in one piece. Be careful it is delicate.
To serve: Drizzle the nut cheese with the extra virgin olive oil and salt, freshly cracked pepper and thyme leaves.

Comments: While the recipe wasn't so terrible I had to toss it, from the perspective of cheese, it was a definite FAIL. I found it very lemony—not in a bad way, but too strong to resemble the acid of feta. And of course, my texture was WAY off (I may attempt it again, and steal my roommate's blender for the project)...and it was clearly cooked. Browned on the bottom. I ended up tossing it in various dishes throughout the weak, giving them a lemony, savory twist.

Sweet Potato-ish Gnocchi

I first attempted gnocchi about a year ago, a first attempt, that ended like most first attempts at gnocchi in utter failure. I want to say a large part of it wasn’t my fault so much as my ignorance. My coworker made us butternut squash gnocchi for lunch frequently, and assured me it was simple. Unquestioningly, I believed her, and set to work.

Now, nearly a year later, inspired by the Outside of the Box Challenge (thanks Rachel!), I attempted it again.

I still had no intention of following a beginner’s recipe, not after Alicia at Vegan Epicurean posted such an easy-sounding Sweet Potato Gnocchi recipe. But this time, I knew some research was in order.

Sure enough, my initial brushing over of Alicia’s “I used to make this all the time…” was nearly fatal. I studied the techniques used by Deb at Smitten Kitchen (here) and Heidi at 101 Cookbooks (here), and set to work.

I used the same basic recipe found on Smitten Kitchen and 101 Cookbooks, but subbed a sweet potato in with my two white potatoes. I had already baked the potatoes per Alicia’s recipe, which left the outside hard (beyond the skin), and my shredder…well, it’s crap, so that idea was quickly sacked.

I did my best to imitate Heidi’s technique with a fork. The dough appeared a little chunky, which I think was due to the texture of the sweet potato, and I used significantly more flour than called for, but not so much as with the butternut squash disaster.

And, it appears to have paid off! While they may not be perfect gnocchi (they certainly don’t look perfect), it was perfectly delicious with some homemade pesto (although I employed my new mini-food processor rather than the make-shift mortar and pestle this time around)!