3 mushroom shaped cheeses are on a wooden plate, one of them is pink from beet powder and the other has reishi in it
Snack

Tzila's Magic 11:11 Cheese

Ingredients

  • 16 oz / 1LB of cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours 
  • 1 tsp of salt 
  • 1 tbsp of white miso, depending on how salty you want the cheese 
  • 5-6 probiotic capsules with no prebiotic 
  • 4-8 ml 11:11 
  • Optional add-ins: turmeric, chaga, reishi, nettle, or beet powder 

Equipment

  • Rubber band 
  • High speed blender 
  • A couple pieces of wax paper 
  • A warm place to let the cheese ferment overnight 
  • Cookie cutter molds 
  • Dehydrator if you want a denser/harder cheese

Directions

  1. Soak cashews in water for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight in the fridge so they are softer when you blend the following day 
  2. Drain cashews and transfer to a high speed blender (make sure the blender has been cleaned with hot water) with 1 tsp of salt. Add one to two tablespoons of water if you need it to get the mixture going. Blend and use the tamper to push the cashews into the blades until you’ve reached a smooth, cloud-like consistency
  3. Transfer the thick mixture to a clean bowl and open the probiotic capsules into the mixture and mix thoroughly. Place a wax piece over the bowl and secure with a rubber band
  4. Place the bowl in a warm place (where I live I find turning the oven light on and pushing the bowl to the back of the inside of the stove keeps it warm year-round, just don’t turn the oven on!)
  5. Let it FERMENT! The longer you ferment it, the tangier it’ll get. You’ll start to get a sense, once you do this process a few times, when to stop the fermentation process by how it smells and looks. When it ferments it will produce bubbles. You will notice the mixture smells different the longer you leave it. Ideal time I ferment for is between 12-24 hours depending on temperature and how tangy I want it. 
  6. Once it’s been fermented to your liking, add ~1 T of white chickpea miso paste to the mixture and thoroughly stir in.
  7. After adding the miso, place a cover on the bowl and refrigerate for a couple hours, or until the mixture has gotten firmer, overnight is usually good.
  8. Then add in 4-8ml of the 11:11 tincture! At this time, you can also add in turmeric, or chaga powder or any other powder to colour or flavour the cheese along with the Rainbo tincture. Stir 11:11 thoroughly then add powders. 
  9. Place a wax piece on the counter, and put the cookie cutters on top of the wax. Fill the cookie cutters with cheese mixture.
  10. If you want a firmer cheese and have a dehydrator handy, you can dehydrate the cheese inside the cookie cutters for a couple hours.
  11. Place the cookie cutters into the fridge after filling or dehydrating 
  12. Let them refrigerate overnight to let them firm up
  13. Next day, gently press the cheese out of the mold. And voila! A beautifully fermented, mushroom-y infused cheese!