Pure2 Tribute and Raw Hazelnut Cheese

Thank the spinning earth it's Friday? Well, it's a gorgeous, sunny day, but if you're self-employed and a student, the work doesn't stop with Friday. I've been slammed this week! It's also been an intensely social week, with Phil back home. We've had people for dinner, or been to dinner at people's houses, every night this week, and that's set to continue through next Thursday if not beyond, and we're supposed to be house-and dog-sitting for our neighbors starting next week too. Ayayay! At least it gives me reason to make goodies...

In fact, I managed to create tributes to two blogs I particularly enjoy as part of a single meal this week.

Part of the week's shakedown has been to finish the kitchen!

 Yes, there are some miscellaneous construction items that need to be moved or organized, and yes, there's isn't a sink yet. But I can now fix all the food in one place, rather than constantly running back and forth between the two tiny rooms.

On to my first "blogger tribute"--I'm going to share one today, one tomorrow. I created this elegant appetizer of Raw Hazelnut Cheese (recipe to follow), carrot sticks (because I love them so), and pumpkin socca!

This is my tribute to Lori and Michelle of Pure 2 Raw--I so admire their allergy-friendly baking talents, their sincerity, humor, thoughtfulness and imagination, and their adventures in fitness are always an inspiration.

"Socca" is a Mediterranean flatbread made with chickpea flour (and thus gluten free and high protein) that Lori and Michelle have popularized in myriad forms on their blog. The pumpkin version was perfect for the season, was deliciously ambiguous between sweet and savory (especially with some cinnamon in there) and between crunchiness around the edges and moist/doughy inside.

 And I didn't even need to advertise that it was gluten free, but was able to enjoy it along with everyone else. Usually, if I make something gluten free, it's not the preferred item--but there weren't many leftovers from this.
 It was also a perfect vehicle for the Raw Hazelnut Cheese I made.

Phil, my "Philbert," came home with lots of fresh filberts (aka hazelnuts) from Oregon, so I decided to make a nut cheese rather than a hummus. I know that Lori and Michelle love their cultured foods, so this is for you, with fondness:

Raw Hazelnut Cheese
2 cups hazelnuts, soaked
1/2-1 cup water
2 probiotics capsules
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar, or a mixture of the two)

Blend the soaked hazelnuts and the powder from the probiotic capsules on high with a small amount of water until completely pureed (if you don't have a Vitamix or high-speed blender, you will need more water).
Scrape everything out onto a sieve lined with a nut milk bag or some cheesecloth, and leave in a dark place for 24 hours.
After it's sat and cultured, stir in the remaining ingredients.
Garnish with paprika.

This is a very basic cheese: I think it would be lovely with some minced basil, or go spicy with jalapeno pieces, or mince in some chives... Hazelnuts are high in fiber, so this isn't as smooth as a cashew-based cheese, but the texture is really good nonetheless--all the dairy cheese aficionados really enjoyed it!

Thanks for the inspiration, Lori and Michelle!
Stay tuned for the second 'blogger tribute'--I'll try to get it up over the weekend.
Much love.