Culinary Success

As Laing was the chef I rarely did much work in the kitchen.When I started to develop a very casual interest in nutrition and fitness I found the Raw Diet and there are some things I never thought of before which have increased my enjoyment of food, especially as I find meat less appealing as time goes by. I have often toyed with the idea of vegetarian/vegan foods and this was given a boost around the same time while listening to BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today (or more correctly, a programme for a pressure group to moan and groan and get its say broadcast on a daily basis). When I heard that about 500,00 are slaughtered or sold to continental veal farms I found my daily pinta less appealing. And no, it’s nothing to do with male solidarity!

Since I made the conscious choice to cut back on dairy products (but a stinking camembert or brie oozing over a plate is so hard to resist) I have been drinking on a regular basis alternative drinks which are called mylks as the European bosses tell us we can’t call them milk, allegedly. I have tried soya, rice, almond, oat and hemp. The latter is very strong tasting and needs to be used with care.

Needless to say, these alternatives are aimed at a much smaller market and are not very cheap. So, taking courage I made my first almond milk/mylk/drink. Much to my surprise it tastes delicious. Better than the shop bought stuff, but I have made a small change to what is a very simple thing to do.

So if you’re interested, here’s the recipe.

To make 450-500 ml of liquid

1 cup or 125g of almonds

2 cups (500 ml) of water (I filter mine) plus extra for soaking.

1 tbsp of maca powder (it makes us lads more, well, you know, that sort of thing - so they say - it also adds a little extra to the drink) but this is optional, as is any sweetner (yuck).

1. Cover the almonds well in a bowl and soak overnight in a bowl.
2. Drain and rinse almonds.
3. Put almonds and water in the blender.
4. Pulse a couple of times to break up the nuts.
5. Zuzz (don’t know the technical term) for 2 minutes.
6. Strain through a muslin cloth. Squeeze out  the liquid.
7. Stir in the maca (optional).

If you really want it sweetened, well do your own thing. I like it just as it is. I think it is subtle and delicious. Not sure to drink it straight or add it to a smoothie or use it in my porage or make another of these loony healthy new age foods.

As I have a recipe for a (raw) ginger almond paté, I can use the residual almond mush in that. That too tastes heavenly. I need to find other uses for the mush as well.

I might make double next time!

Cancer widowers can cope in the kitchen! I might add some more of my adaptations or hand picked recipes if you like.