Apricot Pistachio Fromage

Fromage Ingredients:
2 cups raw organic cashews (soak for 2 to 4 hours prior to use)
1 cup filtered water
1 tsp. acidophilus probiotic 4

Directions:
Rinse and drain the cashews until the water runs clear. Place them in a Vitamix with the filtered water. Blend them until creamy smooth. Test the mixture with your fingers and make sure there is no grittiness in the fromage. Add the acidophilus and blend until evenly distributed. Take a stainless steel bowl, a nylon strainer, and some cheesecloth. Fold the cheesecloth in half and lay it in the strainer. Rest the strainer over the stainless bowl so that the “whey” will drip into the bowl. The cheese cloth must overlap the strainer edges by quite a bit since you will be folding it over to cover the fromage. Remove the fromage from the Vitamix and place it in the center of the cheesecloth and strainer. Fold the cheesecloth over the fromage and completely cover it. Place a heavy weight of approximately 2 lbs on top of the fromage. This will press the “whey” out of the fromage into the stainless steel bowl. Let the fromage sit on the counter for 24 hours. This will cause it to naturally ferment.

More Fromage and Garnishing Ingredients:
¼ cup organic agave
¼ tsp. Himalayan pink salt
1 cup raw organic chopped pistachios
¼ cup pistachio butter (Living Tree Community Foods)
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 tsp. fresh ginger (microplane grater)
½ tsp. lime juice

Supplies:
1 Ateco 4 piece round food molding set
1 Ateco rectangular cutter set

Directions:
Remove the weight from the fromage. Unfold the cheesecloth. Pick the edges of the cheesecloth up and flip the fromage into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the agave, salt, ½ cup chopped pistachios, ½ cup chopped apricots, ginger, and lime juice to the bowl. Using a spatula, mix all of the ingredients with the fromage by hand. Take the two round food molds and the large rectangular mold. Place them on dehydrator tray with teflex sheets. Take some pistachios and apricots and place a layer of both in the bottom of each of the molds so that you can’t see through to the teflex sheet. Set the remaining pistachios and apricots aside. Then take the fromage and fill up all three of the molds. Take the pistachio butter and divide it into 4 parts. Place two of those on top of the rectangular mold and one part on top of each of the round molds. Take a wooden skewer and gently swirl the pistachio butter into the fromage. Do not disturb the layer of apricots and pistachios on the bottom. Make sure that you take a thin spatula and smooth the top of the fromage out after swirling. Place the tray into the dehydrator at 115 degrees for 12 hours. Remove the tray from the dehydrator. Take a knife and gently go all the way around the edges between the mold and the fromage. Lift the molds away from the fromage. Leave the fromage where it is. Continue dehydrating for 6 more hours. This will form an outer shell on the fromage to keep it firm. Remove the fromage from the dehydrator using a cake spatula that is thin. Gently slide it under the fromage one by one. Take a decorative plate, flip the fromage over very gently upside down with the thin spatula and your other hand as protection. Place it on the plate until you have done all three. You should have some remaining pistachios and apricots. Sprinkle them on the top to add to the beauty of the fromage.

Directions:
Slice each slice of dried apricot into two complete slices. You will be cutting horizontally through each slice. After you have cut the slice into two, place one of the slices on the chopping block and place half of the other slice on top of that. Repeat this several times until you have formed a line of slices about 2 ½” long. Starting from the first slice, begin rolling up the line until you have the whole thing rolled up. Take a toothpick and run it clear through the bottom of the roll ¼” up from the bottom. Place another toothpick perpendicular to that. You will make a horizontal platform that holds the flower together. Take another toothpick and stick it into the bottom of the flower vertically so that you can hold the flower up. Cut the ends of the horizontal toothpicks off so that you can’t see them. Leave the vertical one alone so that you can hold it. Take your fingers and fan the top out so that a flower is formed. Take this flower and place it in the center of the fromage.

Keep refrigerated. It will last 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.