How to make Almond “Cheese” (Fermented & Peppered)

Inspiration:
It’s raw and fermented and I was inspired by a recipe for “Herbed Almond Cheese” in the new book Becoming Raw which I’m reviewing for alive magazine. I then read several blogs about making raw nut ‘cheese’ and also credit this one about cashew cheeze for more inspiration. Fermented ‘cheezes’ are sure to please raw foodists, vegans, and those who are lactose intolerant. And, while providing the same satisfying protein hit as dairy cheese, they won’t replace the creamed dairy flavor and fatty mouth feel of the real deal. Don’t expect it to taste the same — fermented Almond Cheeze is refreshingly light, and rivals goat cheese or chèvre for its… um… “tangy-ness”. It is a gratifying alternative for those of us who take joy in preparing and eating healthier foods. Experiment with seasonings to find your best fit.

Easy Raw Almond “Cheese” (Fermented & Peppered)

Ingredients

290 g. raw almonds (organic is best of course) soaked for 8-10 hours, drained, rinsed and skinned (see tips below about removing skins)
250 ml water
1 tsp. light miso
½ tsp. probiotic powder (I use Udo’s Choice, see tips below)
1/8 tsp. nutmeg powder
½ tsp. dried garlic powder (see tips below)
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes (see tips below about gluten-free)
10 g. organic cold-pressed flax oil
black or other peppercorns and/or cracked pepper
coarse salt

Instructions

Put soaked, skinned almonds in Thermomix bowl with water, miso, and probiotic powder. Blend for one minute on speed 8.
Line a colander or strainer with cheesecloth and set over a bowl to collect liquid as it drains. Put blended (almond meal) mixture into cheesecloth and overlap with extra cheesecloth. Place a small plate and weight on top. Allow this almond meal to ferment in a warm (not hot) place for 12-24 hours. (Less time is needed in warmer weather.) I put mine in the oven with just the light bulb turned on for 24 hours. (See tips below for more about fermenting.)
Once fermented, do the following: put garlic powder, nutritional yeast, 1/2 tsp. salt and nutmeg into dry Thermomix and whiz 5 seconds on speed 8.
Add the flax oil and the fermented almond ‘cheese’ and mix gently for 5 seconds on REVERSE speed 1.
Press into molds (use a bowl, container, or mini cake pan) and refrigerate. After about four hours (or more), gently remove from molds and coat the rounds with a mixture of peppercorns and ground salt. (Depending on what type of pepper you are using, you may want to loosely grind peppercorns with coarse salt in Thermomix before doing this.) Keep wrapped in parchment paper or butchers paper in fridge for up to 5-6 days.
Serve as you would cream cheese or goat cheese. Consider blending with more healthy flax oil and minced fresh garlic or herbs to make a healthy dairy-free veggie dip as shown in photos. (Corn chips anyone?)

more tips

#veggies lover

50 Great Reasons to Go Raw
This list created by Karen Knowler and Sarah Best (of Get Fresh! magazine) from eavesdropping on our own conversations and those of others over the past few years…

I mean, could you get any more win-wins from your food?!

“To have unlimited energy”
“To increase my clarity”
“To reach my natural weight”
“To improve my memory”
“To support farmers”
“To have sharper concentration”
“To conserve enzymes”
“To raise my vibration”
“To rejuvenate and reverse signs of aging”
“For spiritual expansion”

And another 40 more…

“To detoxify my body naturally”
“To become more vibrant”
“To re-create a clean shiny new me!”
“To create a sense of balance”
“To strengthen my immune system”
“To reawaken my intuition”
“To dramatically reduce my chance of disease”
“I want to use raw eating as a tool to help me release negative emotions and blocks”
“To extend my life span”
“I’ve only been raw for a short while but for me it’s the biggest high ever!”
“To function at my peak”
“I want to reduce my food bills”
“To balance my body’s temperature, regardless of external conditions”
“I want to break my emotional attachments to foods”
“To have eyes that sparkle”
“I want to get back in touch with my body and myself”
“To have clear skin”
“I want to become more calm and collected”
“To have young-looking skin”
“It’s environmentally friendly”
“To have shiny, glossy hair”
“I’m a vegetarian/vegan and this is the next step”
“To improve my eyesight”
“I want to use less fossil fuel”
“Because the food is delicious”
“I want those insights people talk about”
“I discovered the durian!”
“Meal preparation is so easy”
“I like to eat truly natural food”
“It saves time”
“I want to explore a world of taste I never knew existed before”
“I want to meet like-minded people”
“I love fruit!”
“To lower my fuel bills!”
“I love the beautiful colours of raw food”
“It’s an exciting adventure”
“I want to learn how to become hungry properly”
“It will help me achieve my potential”
“Because it will help me grow as a person as well as better my health”
“Because I love myself”

☯ I am in the universe, the universe in my body ☯
☯ the universe & I are combined together☯

msylvester:

Raw Lasagna - with Zucchini as the Noodles

This recipe is adapted from @MatthewKenney and @Sarma is their cookbook from the amazing NYC Restaurant Pure Food and Wine. I love how they encourage us to play with the recipes and make them our own. In the spirit of full disclosure, if you want to read the original recipe, please get the book “Raw Food - Real World” - it’s fabulous and beautiful to look at.

As you can see in the images, the ingredients are simple and easy to get anywhere. My adaptation begins with the fact that I only had 30 minutes to prepare the meal and it’s just beginning to be Spring and I don’t have access to everything one would want, so I improvised.

The Sauces

The main success of this dish is the multi-layered nuanced flavors - which all come from the sauces, which are meant to mimic the marinara, cheese and pesto in a cooked lasagna.

Pesto

I don’t care for raw garlic and my wife doesn’t like nuts in pesto - so this is really a Basil Spread made by blending the Basil with enough Extra Virgin Olive Oil to make it spreadable. I add in a pinch of Sea Salt to punch it up.

Marinara

I use Sun Dried Tomatoes that are organic and not soaked in oil. Yes, I can make my own, and do, but these are fast, good and I didn’t have to wait two days. Take them and put into the Cuisinart, add a handful of heirloom cherry tomatoes, some olive oil and 10 sprigs of oregano from the garden. Pulse til smooth.

Alfredo Sauce or Ricotta-like sauce.

Raw Cashews are amazing. Once soaked you can do so many things with them (see my Cashew Milk recipe for instance). Put one cup of Cashews into the Cuisinart, add in 2 heaping teaspoons of nutritional yeast (this has the uncanny ability to give a cheese like overtone to the sauce) - the juice of one Meyers Lemon, a squirt of Olive Oil and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated nutmeg. Pulse til extra smooth - taste and adjust seasonings to taste. Might want to salt it if the lemon didn’t add enough acid.

Prepping the Vegetables

This is time for the mandoline, as you really need to get everything sliced as paper thin as you can. I have great knife skills, but I can’t get them as thin as they require. They have to be pasta-thin. I use this cool glove to make sure I don’t cut myself.

Look at the image to see that I have mushrooms, zucchini and tomatoes to work with. In the original recipe there are no mushrooms, and the tomatoes are Green Zebras - which we won’t see here in Santa Barbara for a few months.

Assembling the Dish

I have done this several times now and am most happy with the small square dishes you see in the image above. I have tried round, small, large, casserole (not good), and like these the best. However, I think maybe something in a clear glass would be interesting too. Best thing: no rules, make it fun.

I start with a layer of zucchini, then a spoon of marinara, then mushrooms, then alfredo sauce, then tomatoes and pesto, repeat until the dish is full. See the final image to see how I wrapped the top - as this becomes the bottom when you unmold it - and unlike lasagna we all grew up with, you don’t have to cover the top later with sauce and cheese to protect the noodles from burning.

Plating

The most fun is actually presenting the dish for your diners. I drizzled a little bit of Balsamic Glaze (NOT RAW) on the bottom, if you are super-pure, omit it and put something else, like a drizzle of the pesto thinned out for instance.

Then I carefully turn the chilled dish over and pop it onto the plate, I sprinkled a little bit of Herbs de Provence that we get from Shepards Farms in Carpinteria at the Farmers Market on the top. Voila - time to eat.

I served this with a side salad of hydro farmed butter lettuce, julienned daikon radish and french cut Persian cucumbers and dressed it with a Meyers Lemon and Olive Oil vinaigrette. A perfect, light accompaniment.

As usual, if you actually make this dish, and I highly recommend, as it’s really easy, then write me or send a picture.

Til we eat again.

Absolutely stunnin short video! ‘beauty of pollination’