Thursday, April 4, 2013

Almond Labane (Cheese)


 Drip...drip...drip



 Soaked and preserved in Olive oil.

Cheese without the cheese?  Well I had to try it.  Especially since I LOVE almonds.  I use to make my own labane so as soon as I hung this lovely ball up, my sons yelped with joy
 "Oh great mum! You're making that tasty cheese"

Have to say they got a bit of a surprise and so did I.
Not sure what to make out of it.
It WAS super easy to make.  And it was tasty, but cheese it ain't.  Very pretty to look at and a real novelty to give.  Would I make it again?....Not sure. 
In all fairness I should give it some time to adjust to the very 'idea'.  
At the very least the respect it deserves and try it on some worthy cracker or quality bread.

I do have some goat yoghurt in the fridge as I speak which I intend to treat the same way and compare.



Recipe

Almonds (preferably without skins, but for lazy people like me, not so necessarily so ;)
3/4 water (fresh)
2 Tps of Olive Oil
1 diced clove of Garlic
Salt
Fresh Mint leaves or coriander or Basil what ever you like. (Adds nice green specks to the cheese too)

Thoroughly soak almonds over night, I soaked in the fridge and forgot about it for an embarrassing long time (just don't forget to change the water each day.)
Place all in a processor and mix for ages or till smooth with no 'bits'
Place in a damp cheese cloth ( I used baby's cloth)
Twist and wring out as much water out as possible, hang overnight.  Place in refridgerator next day.
After a couple of hours the cheese should be more firm/set and easier to handle.
Roll into small balls and place in a nice glass jar. 
Then fill the jar with quaility olive oil.  Add herbs such as a sprig of rosemary or even a red chili.  Not only will this look pretty but infuse the olive oil with even more flavour.

Source Recipe - Click Here

Welp 06.04.13 according to the date.
Two days later.
And it's all gone.
Definitely better a day later, after being steeped in olive oil, resting.  And as my young son reminded me (proud mum smile)  It always tastes better a day later, and the oil is the tastiest part!  He loves to drizzle it on bread and straight on salads.  He was right.
Unanimous conclusion, as long as you don't call it 'Cheese', its  unconfusing and absolutely great!
In this household we called it 'Nut' Cheese (s'cuse the pun)

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