Fermented Nut Cheeze

Cashews or almonds will work with this recipe… When I first attempted this, I asked a friend who knew a friend that sold it for a pretty penny… she told me that it is actually so easy!  Just google it. So I did. She was right, it is really easy!

I love using this sour whipped nut cheeze in place of mayo, butter, or spreadable cheese.  It is great as a dip, like aioli (just add garlic!), veggie dip (add herbs & garlic)… etc!

Chunky water kefir SCOBY’s

Fermentation is a wild art, if you are unsure about it, take a workshop and/or visit this website: www.culturesforhealth.com. This site is full of trouble-shooting, videos and how-to’s for all sorts of fermenting.  I prefer using water kefir as a starter for all my ferments… it is easy, fast and beautifully effervescent!  <<Love>>

Sourcing & Prep of Ingredients: 

Almonds, try to find blanched or skinless, organic, stored in the fridge preferably or stick it in there when you get home!  I get mine at Costco or the Italian Centre and after soaking I remove the skins.  Soak in salt water for 6-12 hours to soften and remove the anti-nutrients to enhance digestibility of these dense creatures!

I normally try to sprout all my nuts, seeds and beans… if I have the patience to wait 2-3 days… check out the tiny sprouts on these cashews!!

Close-up of the cutest little sprout!!!

Cashews are difficult to remove from their large shell, normally there is a high heat and steam process making them not raw from the get-go; there are raw cashews available but are very expensive because of this difficulty factor!  Soak unroasted in salt water for 4-6 hours to soften and remove the anti-nutrients! Cashews are one of the softest nuts and because of their intensely large shell they don’t need to have such a high amount of poisons (anti-nutrients) to protect from predators, hence the lower soak time.

Recipe:

1 cup soaked nuts

1/2 cup water

1 tsp unrefined sea salt

1-2 Tbsp. water kefir starter (if not using this use another tsp of sea salt)

1 tbsp lemon (fresh squeezed, also optional)

1-2 cloves of garlic (again… optional)

Place all the ingredients in the blender until smooth, add more water if desired.  Remove and put into a glass jar.  Sit on the counter at room temperature for 12-24 hours to ferment (the salt alone will preserve it and prevent it from rotting, it will be forced to ferment: a beneficial ‘rotting’ 🙂

You may notice that the nut cheeze will puff right up the jar and bubbles will form
through ought… Also there will be a sour, cheesy taste that develops.. mmmmmm… These are all normal occurrences!!

The step-by-step process of fermented cashew cheeze. 1st blended, sits for 6 hours and puffs out of the jar, smash the bubbles down back to size.