Dear Kitchen,
Embracing my inner closet-hippie, I am really getting hooked on almond milk
making I'm stumped with what to do with the leftover almond meal that is slowly taking over my fridge. And, I'm curious how long that stuff will stay fresh. I've got a collection of jars ranging from a few days, to a week old. Any ideas, beyond the shower scrub thing, which our ancient plumbing will never allow? Maybe baked filling? Maybe savory topping? My first thoughts were a fruit crisp topping, but any recipes and ideas would be most appreciated!
-Sara
Dear Sara,
I think youre onto something with the fruit crisp idea. Why not blend the meal with a little flour, sugar and butter or vegetable shortening to make a sort of streusel topping for fruit crisp or even muffins? You could also experiment with adding the almond meal to breads or muffins in place of some of the flour and see how it goes.
I would also recommend spreading the meal out on a baking sheet and toasting it and then using it to top salads, yogurt or sauted greens.
Since almond milk is a raw food, I notice that some of the raw food sites have recipes for crackers and breads made specifically with the almond meal leftover from making almond milk. Of course these require a dehydrator. Heres one for apricot almond bread
You also might try making dips with the almond meal. Since most such dips call for ground almonds and excess moisture won't matter, I dont see why you couldnt use your almond meal in recipes such as these two: Beet, Chickpea and Almond Dip and Pistachio, Garlic and Almond Dip.
As for how long the meal will keep, Im not sure, but I dont see any problem with keeping it for up to a week in the refrigerator. Any longer, and Id guess that mustiness or mold would tip you off not to use it. Why not freeze it and see how it thaws? Id think fine.
I've made fruit cake from the Joy of Cooking replacing half of the flour with almond meal and it is amazing. I do the lighter fruitcake recipe (I think it's got the word cockaigne (sp?) somewhere in the title) I took it to Christmas dinner last year and it lasted all of about 10 minutes. This year I'm making double!
Ok, did I miss a food thing here? I'm rather intrigued. How does one make almond milk? Sounds yummy.
Thanks Vanessa! I'm excited to try out those recipes - I will report back...
Almond milk! It's super easy - I just soak 1 cup of raw almonds overnight in the fridge in water (about an inch or two above the almonds).
Drain. Blend in food processor with 4 c. water (you can use less water for creamier, richer almond milk).
Strain in cheesecloth. I sometimes add a drizzle of agave nectar and a splash of vanilla extract.
Can you make Nigella's Almond Clementine cake? (Link is in my name.) I've made it - very tasty. And actually, come to think of it, I've made it for the holidays since clementines are in season.
I put mine into ice cube trays, and I'm just going to pop them into smoothies. A little added fiber and whatever nutrients are left after the "milking" (probably not much but oh well - I didn't milk this batch to death, so should be something good still hanging out there).