Walnut Nut Milk

Walnut 'Nut Milk'


Recipe: Evan der Millner


Take 500g or more of walnuts, and soak them overnight in a large pot of water.

Rinse and drain the nuts, and then prepare them for freezing by placing generous cupfuls of nuts into separate plastic bags. Tie the bags shut, and place them in the freezer until required.

Freezing the soaked nuts will help break down the cell walls inside the nuts, making it much easier to extract more of the juices later when you blend them and squeeze them.

_____________________

Preparing your squeezing cloth


Now, take a large linen or cotton dishcloth (drying cloth/ tea-towel); choose one with a close weave; and snip little holes in each of the four corners, just large enough to poke the handle of your favourite wooden long handled kitchen spoon through the holes.

It is preferable to use a well worn and  aged dishcloth that has been used in your kitchen for some time, as any dyes and contaminants present in the cloth will largely have been washed out.

Wet your dishcloth, and place it in a bowl in the microwave for 3 minutes or so, to sterilise it.

After you have heated it until it is piping hot, rinse the dishcloth with cold water, and squeeze it dry.

This cloth will be used  for making your nut milk from now on.

__________________

Making the milk


After you have prepared your squeezing cloth, take a bag of the frozen walnuts from the freezer, and place these in a blender with two cupfuls of cold water. You may wish to vary the ratio after trial and error; I find one cup of soaked nuts to two of water is fine; I then dilute the nut milk with cold water after it has been extracted.

Wait a short while (for the nuts to defrost - 30 seconds should be enough) and then blend the nuts until the mixture appears white and deliciously smooth.

Next, take a large cooking pot, and place your colander over the pot. Drape your dishcloth neatly over the colander. Pour the blended nut mixture into the cloth.

If you have time, you may leave the milk to slowly drip drain through the cloth. If you are in a hurry, simply move directly to the next step, which is to:

gently lift the four corners of your dishcloth,  and insert the handle of your wooden spoon into the holes you previously cut in the corners, being careful not to spill any liquid from the cloth while you do this.

Start to gently twist the handle; this is just like squeezing out a wet beach towel. Hold the end with the nut mixture gently in one hand, and continue to use the handle of the spoon as a lever to twist with the other - it will be easy to apply considerable force, and you should be able to squeeze most of the juices out of your nuts. If you have a friend, they can gently hold one end of the dishcloth, while you twist the wooden spoon handle. As you proceed, both of you will need to hold on tightly.

Once this is done, and the milk has been extracted, pour the nut milk from the cooking pot into a glass container. You may add some cold water to the nut milk at this stage, if it is too thick. Place the nut milk in the fridge, or use it straight away. You will find it to be delicious.

The milk will settle if you leave it to stand in the fridge; give it a shake before use.

After you have made the milk


After you have extracted the milk, you may dispose of the residue of solid matter left in the dishcloth, or, if you are feeling frugal, you may scrape the residue of nut from the dishcloth, once you open it out, and place it for drying on an oven tray. This residue can be used in many recipes, such as my spinach quiche recipe.

Wash the cloth well, and spread it out to dry. It is probably a good idea to wet it, and sterilise it in the microwave reasonably frequently, if you make this milk regularly.

This milk is quick to make, and can be quickly prepared from the frozen nuts in the morning at breakfast time.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Smashed Cauliflower

I prefer quick and simple recipes: this is a regular on my dining table. Take one good head of cauliflower. Cut if up roughly, rinse, and microwave in a large covered bowl with a 1/4 cup of water for 10 minutes. Remove, and carefully drain the water. Add a good dose of olive oil, or ghee, (or goats butter)  (or indeed a combination of all three) salt, pepper and spices to taste (paprika goes well, as does rosemary.)  If you prefer, you may grate in an amount of good Parmesan Reggiano or Pecorino to give it a cheesy tang. Smash up with a hand blender (on low speed!) until it is the desired consistency. Pour over generous amounts of additional olive oil at the table. Sprinkle a little dried or fresh parsley or Nori (seaweed) sprinkles on top if you desire some colour contrast. Serve as a side dish.
Read more

Quick Mashed Green Bananas

QUICK MASHED GREEN BANANAS Take a bunch of green bananas - any variety will do, but they need to be quite green and hard. Green plantain can also be used. Cut one slit in each banana lengthwise, and place them with the skins on, in a large bowl in your microwave oven, and microwave them for ten minutes, with a 1/4 cup of water in the bowl. If you have leisure, allow them to cool; otherwise, plunge them into a basin of cold water. Once they are cool enough to touch, scrape the pulp out of the skins into a bowl. Add butter or olive oil, and mash them with a potato masher. You may briefly return them to the microwave to bring them up to the desired temperature. Serve as an accompaniment, in the same way as you would use mashed potato. They are improved with a light dusting of nutmeg.
Read more

Coconut Yoghurt

The recipe I have used successfully so far is as follows: Ingredients: a.) Two tins of thick full fat coconut milk. b.) One tablespoon of "Symprove" probiotic, which contains L. rhamnosus,  E. faecium,  L. acidophilus,  and  L. plantarum .   c.) One teaspoon of sugar as 'food' for the yoghurt cultures. I then placed this in the oven on the lowest heat setting (just with the fan running - I did not check the temperature, but after a few hours, the container with the yoghurt was comfortably warm to the touch, but not hot); a yoghurt maker would also do the trick. I let the yogurt gently ferment for over 10 hours. At this stage, the yoghurt was white and creamy, but still too thin, unless you were aiming for a drinking or pouring yoghurt. d.) I look 1 tablespoon of plain gelatine, and dissolved it in 1/2 teacup of cold water, and then fully dissolved it by microwaving it for 1 minute. I poured the hot gelatine into the yoghurt, and stirre...
Read more