daemon@decwrl.UUCP (The devil himself) (03/18/85)
Re: Brewer's Yeast (Revisited)_________________________________________________
In a recent article I alluded to a cheese imitation made with brewer's
yeast - a recipe from _The_Farm_Vegetarian_Cookbook_. Now that I'm at home
with my cookbooks, I figured I'd share the recipe with net.landers. I don't
think the folks at The Farm would mind, especially since I'll give a brief
review of the cookbook.
Melty Nutritional Yeast "Cheese"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: By "yeast flakes" here they mean _saccharomyces_cerevisiae_ yeast, a
type that is grown on molasses (usually blackstrap molasses, from what I've
seen) primarily for human consumption. I use KAL brand, which comes in a
yellow bag, because it's the only one I can find! Anyways, if you use any
other type of yeast, the flavor will be different - probably worse.
o 1 cup nutritional yeast flakes [_saccharomyces_cervisiae_, of course]
o 1/3 cup white flour
o 1 1/2 tsp. salt [I don't use salt, myself]
o 2 cups water
o 1/4-1/2 cup margarine [or butter, if you use butter]
o 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
o 2 tsp. wet mustard (optional)
Mix dry ingredients in a saucepan. Gradually add water, stirring with a
whisk, making a smooth paste and then thinning with the remaining water.
Place on heat and stir constantly until it thickens and bubbles. Let it bubble
for about 30 seconds and remove from heat. Whip in the margarine [or butter]
(and mustard).
The sauce may get thick if it sits for a while. If so, heat it up and whip
in a small amount of water.
_The_Farm_Vegetarian_Cookbook_
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above recipe is just one example of how useful _TFVC_ is. The
folks on The Farm are complete vegetarians who eat no animal products at all
(and supplement their food with Vitamin B-12). They still make plenty of
old favorites, though, using substitutes.
For example, it tells you how to make soy milk, and from that how to
make soy ice cream ("ice bean") and soy yogurt. There are also instructions
on making tofu, tempeh, TVP, and gluten dishes.
As you might have guessed, there is an emphasis on soybeans (something
these folks grow themselves). It's not as grim as it sounds though; they have
good taste in their recipes and a surprising variety. They're very industr-
ious.
Personally, I do eat things like milk and eggs and cheese, though I
limit quantities. One thing I've been able to do since I got _TFVC_ is dilute
dishes with animal fats in them. For example, ricotta cheese can be substitu-
ted with a half-and-half mixture of the Melty Nutritional Yeast "Cheese" and
ricotta cheese. Sour cream can be replaced with a half-and-half mixture of
soy yogurt (or regular yogurt) and sour cream.
One of the recipes is for soybean burritos. Again, this is not as
grim as it sounds: I had doubts, but I tried it: much to my surprise, the
soybean does have a light flavor! It's not the way I'd always have burritos,
but since trying it I've been mixing soybeans with the pinto beans I usually
use. I soak then together and then cook them together - and it comes out fine!
I recommend _TFVC_, even for those of us who aren't "complete vegetar-
ians". It's opened quite a few exciting doors for me.
<_Jym_>
P.S.: This method of diluting is also a great way to cut down on food expense.
You can go pretty wild with this - I even dilute my fruit juices with spring
water...it takes a little getting used to, but it saves the pennies (I drink a
lot of water anyways - it's very healthy).
:::::::::::::::: Jym Dyer
::::' :: `:::: Dracut, Massachusetts
::' :: `::
:: :: :: DYER%VAXUUM.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
:: .::::. :: {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer
::..:' :: `:..::
::::. :: .:::: Statements made in this article are my own; they might not
:::::::::::::::: reflect the views of |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| Equipment Corporation.