Almond "chèvre"

Fermented nut cheese. It sound disgusting but it's wonderful. Despite my new obsession with my new  vegan cheese book, I actually found this variation of chèvre online from Art and Lemons. I've had some old rejuvelac in the fridge that needs to be used up for something, so I was looking for a new variation on the rejuvelac cheese I'm obsessed with making, but was out of cashews.. so therefore wanted to try a new take with almonds! Pleasantly surprised, this cheese tastes pretty damn close to a chèvre log, and the added flavors from nutritional yeast, and nutmeg make this quite cheese-like yet still "plain" so you can add other things to it if you'd like (and do whatever people tend to do with goat cheese these days). The process does take several days if you need to make rejuvelac (a fermented grain product) first, but if you have some on hand this can be finished in just a couple days. A fun "project" in the kitchen, as I've found vegan cheese making an excellent combination of creativity and eating. Fermented cheese in particular has a lot of added nutrients and probiotics so it's very healthy for you to eat. Impress your friends with this plant-based cheese and remind them it IS possible to go vegan and still eat cheese (while having the fun of making it yourself!) :)

Ingredients:

2 cups raw almonds

1 cup rejuvelac

1 tablespoon nutrition yeast

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice

pinch of nutmeg

Directions:

Boil 4 cups of water on the stovetop and turn off the heat. Throw in your almonds and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Rinse in a colander with cold water and peel off their "skins" by hand (should be very easy to do after they were heated). Their skins make a great addition to a compost bin.

Add almonds and rejuvelac to a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour the mix into a cheesecloth lined strainer, or nutbag sitting in a colander with a plate underneath. Allow to strain and ferment at room temperature for 12-36 hours (taste test, until your desired tartness is achieved). The longer it ferments the more sour tasting it will become.

Remove from strainer and add in remaining ingredients. You can blend in the food processor again for a quick and easy mix, and mix until as smooth as possible.

Place "cheese" in the middle of a large piece of wax paper. Using the paper, mold the cheese into a "round". Alternatively you can use the wax paper to roll the mixture into a "log" shape instead. Once molded into desired shape, keep wrapped and refrigerate for 8-24 hours until set. Once set, cut and serve as desired. Store remaining cheese in an air tight container.