8 cups hot water 4 mint tea bags 2 apples, grated

Mix together and steep until cool. Strain. Serve chilled.

#apple #dairyfree #drink #glutenfree #mint #vegan

Makes about 12 oz. of cheese.

1 gallon milk 2 tsp citric acid or lemon juice 1/8 – ¼ tsp rennet

Pour the milk into a large pot. Dissolve the citric acid in a bit of cool water and stir into the milk, or stir the lemon juice directly into the milk. Stir well. Heat the milk slowly to 90° F (use a food thermometer). Try not to let it get above 90°. Once it reaches that point, you can turn off the heat.

Dilute the rennet in a few Tbsp of cool water. My rennet is extra strength that says 1/8 tsp will work on 2 gallons of milk, so I try to approximate ½ of a 1/8 tsp measure. If your rennet doesn't have a suggested ratio on the container, using ¼ tsp should be fine.

Stir the rennet dilution into the milk. Let sit until a curd forms, this usually takes 5-10 minutes. Check the curd by sticking in your finger and pulling it out horizontally. Your finger should come out mostly clean with the curd splitting apart around it. You can also check by pulling the curd away from the edge of the pot and having clear whey fill in the space.

Take a long, sharp knife and cut a grid pattern in the curd all the way to the bottom of the pot. Cut several more lines that slant through the depth of the curd. Let rest for a few minutes. The curd should be thick enough that you see the lines you cut, and the cuts will be filled with clear whey.

Line a large colander with cloth (in my experience the commercial cheesecloth is too gauzy, and normal muslin or light linen works better) and place the colander over a larger bowl. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the curd into the bowl. You're using the cloth to strain out the whey, which you'll put back into the pot and heat the whey in the pot to about 175° F.

Take a few Tbsp of the whey and mix with ice water and a few Tbsp of salt in a bowl.

Add salt to the curd to taste.

The stretching and kneading that follows is what makes this into mozzarella.

Knead the curd to work off more whey, depending on how dry you want the final cheese to be. Then bundle up the curd in the cloth and hang it in the pot of hot whey to warm it up. It needs to be almost too hot to touch when you take it out. Take it out, open the cloth, and knead and stretch the curd. When it gets cool, bundle it in the cloth, heat it up in the whey, take it out and continue to knead it. Continue doing this.

Eventually when you pull at it, it will start forming the stretchy grain that mozzarella is known for. When it's all smooth, stretchy grain instead of the little cottage-cheesy curd texture, start forming it into a nice ball of cheese by tucking the edges under to the middle. Then immerse the ball of cheese in the cold brine you made earlier, which sets the cheese.

You can store the cheese in the brine, or just in a plastic bag or container. As this is a fresh, all-natural, soft cheese, it should be eaten within a few days of being made.

#cheese #citricacid #glutenfree #lemonjuice #milk #rennet #vegetarian

To make 1 pint:

1 lb of apples ¼ lb of plums, with the pits removed

Run the apples through a juicer.

Put the plums in a blender with a bit of the apple juice, and blend until as liquefied as possible. Stir into the apple juice.

Squeeze the juice through a cloth bag to strain. (Squeeze into a bowl or serving vessel).

Serve chilled.

You can use what is called a jelly bag, or cheesecloth. What I find works the best is just to make a large, rectangular bag with cotton muslin or fine linen. It's cheap and reusable, you can make it as big or small as you need, and works much better than cheesecloth, which is too loose of a weave.

#apple #dairyfree #drink #glutenfree #plum #vegan

1 lb beef, cut into chunks, or ground ½ tsp lavender buds 8 oz sliced mushrooms 7 red potatoes of variable size 2 Tbsp cream cheese ¼ cup milk ½ tsp salt ½ tsp ground black pepper 2 beets 3 carrots 1 onion ¼ cup fennel leaves and stalks 2 Tbsp flour or corn starch

Cook the beef and mushrooms with the lavender buds in a small amount of water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cut potatoes into chunks and boil until soft. Drain the water; mash the potatoes with the milk, cream cheese, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Chop up the vegetables and place in a casserole dish. You can use just the beet root, or use the leaves as well. Put the beef and mushrooms over the vegetables, it's okay if it's not fully cooked at this point. Sprinkle flour over everything.

Spread the mashed potatoes over everything.

Bake for about 30 minutes. Broil it at the end if necessary to brown the top.

#beef #beet #carrot #cornstarch #creamcheese #fennel #glutenfree #lavender #main #milk #mushroom #onion #pepper #potato #salt #wheatflour

¼ cup corn starch ¼ cup chopped raw nuts 2 cups milk, cream, buttermilk, or nut milk 1 ½ cups chopped apples 1 ½ cups chopped pear ¼ c honey ½ tsp cinnamon 1/8 tsp ginger pinch of ground cloves pinch of salt pinch of nutmeg

Mix the corn starch, nuts, milk, apples, pears, and honey in saucepan and bring slowly to a simmer. Cook, stirring for 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Can be served warm or chilled.

#apple #buttermilk #cinnamon #cloves #cornstarch #cream #dairyfree #dessert #ginger #glutenfree #honey #milk #nutmeg #nutmilk #nuts #pear #pudding #salt #vegetarian

2 ½ lb rhubarb 8 cups water ½ cup honey

Cut rhubarb into 1” pieces. Cook in hot water until soft (not boiling). Strain out the rhubarb pieces. Stir in the honey. Chill.

You can add more honey to taste. I found that ½ cup was sufficient, as it sweetened it without overwhelming the rhubarb with honey flavor. However, you can add more honey if you want.

The rhubarb can be used again in recipes that call for cooked rhubarb. I made mine into a crumble, but it was more mushy than it would have been normally because it had already been cooked. A simple dessert is to stir honey or sugar and cinnamon into the rhubarb.

#dairyfree #drink #glutenfree #honey #rhubarb #vegetarian

This is not a traditional Welsh laverbread recipe, but it is similar.

1 cup prepared laver, or nori sheets torn up and soaked in water until soft (drain off excess water) ¼ cup rolled oats ¼ cup corn meal or oat flour vegetable oil salt pepper malt vinegar

Stir together the laver/nori, oats, and corn meal. It should make a dough that holds together, and is not runny or extremely sticky.

Warm the oil in a pan for frying. Form the dough into thin patties about 2” across. Fry them for a few minutes on each side, until golden and crisp. Place on a wire rack over paper towels to drain off excess oil.

Serve sprinkled with salt, pepper, and vinegar.

Makes about 9 patties.

Where I live, it's a lot easier to find nori, seaweed that has been toasted and rolled flat in a sheet. It is the same species of the seaweed used in Wales, but it's been prepared differently. As stated in the recipe, you can just soak it in water to soften (only takes a minute or so) for good results.

#breakfast #cornmeal #dairyfree #glutenfree #oatflour #oats #oil #pepper #salt #seaweed #side #snack #vegan #vinegar

¼ cup dried lavender buds 6 ¾ cup hot water ½ cup honey 1 cup lemon juice ½ pound dry ice

Steep the lavender buds in the water for at least 10 minutes. Strain out and discard the buds. Stir in the honey to dissolve while the water is still warm. Stir in the lemon juice. Add any more water if necessary to make 2 quarts. Add the dry ice. Serve after allowing to carbonate for about 15 minutes, or to store, wait for all the dry ice to dissolve, then store in an airtight container in the fridge.

#dairyfree #drink #dryice #fairyfeast #glutenfree #honey #lavender #lemonjuice #vegetarian

about 5” of cucumber 1 cup plain Greek yogurt 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves ½ tsp ground black pepper

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Grate the cucumber into a bowl. Stir in all the other ingredients.

It gets better as the flavors combine over time (like 30 minutes), but you can use it immediately.

#condiment #cucumber #garlic #glutenfree #mint #pepper #sauce #side #vegetarian #yogurt

3 cups milk 2/3 cup sugar ¼ cup cornstarch 3 egg yolks 3 Tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa 1/8 tsp salt ½ tsp vanilla extract ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Put 2 ½ cups milk, the cocoa, and the salt in a saucepan over med-high heat. Sprinkle sugar on the milk, without stirring.

In a separate bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the remaining milk. Add egg yolks and beat well.

Right when milk comes to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Keep stirring as the mixture begins to thicken. Return to heat and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly as it thickens. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips and vanilla. Serve warm.

#chocolatechip #cocoa #cornstarch #dessert #eggyolk #glutenfree #milk #pudding #salt #sugar #vanilla #vegetarian