How to use cream-cheese

After my recent lacto-fermentation class, I had a plethora of cream cheese that we  made from whole cows milk ("quark") in my fridge. Here's what I've been doing with it:

1. Add a couple tablespoons of cream cheese into my morning scrambled egg/omelette mixture instead of milk or cream.

2. Make whipped coconut banana cream-cheese dessert as follows:

• 100g cream cheese

• 100g coconut cream - I like the Ayam brand as it doesn't contain guar gum (if not available, just double amount of cream-cheese)

• 1 banana

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

• 1/2 tsp raw cacao powder (or more if you're a choc fiend like me) 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder

Blend the above together with hand-held blender for an easy quick sweetener-free dessert or snack. My kids took this to school today as their morning tea topped with a mountain of organic berries (see picture).

3. Make ice-cream by substituting cream cheese in place of cream (this makes for a less rich, more protein-heavy ice-cream). Here's the recipe for my recent ginger coconut ice-cream invention:

• 400g cream cheese

• 100g coconut cream

• 5 egg yolks (reserve the whites for scrambled eggs/omelettes) 30g fresh ginger

• 3 tablespoons maple syrup

Process the above in a food processor (you don't need an ice-cream maker!) until well blended then pour into small glass containers or ice-block moulds and freeze. Leave on bench for 10-15 mins to soften before serving.

4. smear cream-cheese onto raw veggies (e.g. sliced cucumber) and (if desired) top with wild salmon roe (from The Canadian Way) for a simple snack or pre-dinner appetiser.  You could also do this with home-made goats curd. Enjoy!

What to do with egg whites!?!

I did a cooking class a couple of days ago for some rowdy rugby boys and one of the things we made was steak tartare which required lots of raw egg yolks so I was left with about a litre of egg whites. Eggs whites should never be consumed raw but should always be cooked (to understand why refer to my earlier post on Eggs). Instead of being wasteful and pouring egg whites down the sink just store them in the fridge and use them up next time you make  scrambled eggs or omelettes. This morning I made a Japanese style omelette using only the egg whites as follows: 1. to the egg whites add a good splosh of tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)

2. blend well with a hand held blender

3. melt some coconut oil in a frying pan on low heat

4. pour in the egg white mixture

5.  add a good sprinkling of activated sesame seeds (long soaked and long slow dehydrated to remove phytates found in all seeds)

6. leave to cook for 5 or so minutes so that the bottom of the omelette is cooked

7. transfer to heated grill element in the oven to allow the top of the omelette to cook until golden brown (don't use a plastic-handled frying pan otherwise it will burn. And use oven mits to take the frying pan out of the oven so as not to burn your hands!)

I allowed the omelette to cool in the pan, then moved it onto a chopping board where I sliced it into thin strips. I added some strips to small stainless steel containers for my kids' school morning tea tomorrow to be eaten cold and the rest will be thrown into a salad or eaten as a side dish today with a main meal. Next time I think I'll add some strips of nori (thinly cut seaweed sheets) to the Japanese omelette when adding the sesame seeds - this would have made a nice addition.

Note that egg whites are very rich in protein. There is very little fat in this dish, which is not the way nature intended when the chicken laid the egg in the perfect balance of fat and protein (remember that the key is to eat "whole foods" and not mess around with the constitution of our food) so I will ensure that this egg white omelette  is eaten together with liberal amounts of healthy fat from natural sources such as avocados or fatty pastured meat or a cup of bone broth to balance things out. Otherwise instead of a Japanese style omelette you could make a traditional French one with loads of grated cheese (e.g. Swiss raw gruyere) which will increase the fat content of the meal.

I am interested to learn from you other ways to use up egg whites!?! The other thing that comes to mind is in desserts such as meringues or coconut snow cones with chocolate tops or as part of a gluten-free base to a tart. Egg whites have a binding effect so are often used in desserts. I'll post the recepies for these desserts one day.......

[caption id="attachment_337" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Slice omelette on a chopping board 

Pop into small containers for school/work morning tea"]