almond-milk-msg – 1/12/08
Making almond milk. Almond milk in period. Deskinning almonds.
NOTE: See also the files: almond-cream-msg, nuts-msg, dairy-prod-msg, butter-msg, fasts-msg.
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Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 21:43:17 EST
From: LrdRas <LrdRas at aol.com>
Subject: SC - Deskinning blanched almonds
Patricia.R.DUNHAM at ci.eugene.or.us writes:
<< Of course, I didn't have much in the way of
fingertips left, after having blanched and slipped the skins off x-many
pounds of bulk almonds, before we blenderized 'em. >>
A little tip> To remove most of the skin blanch the almonds, drain and place
on a towel, Wrap them up in the towel and sort of roll, rub and squeeze them
around. Rinse. Repeat process. This removes almost all of the brown skin
relatively easily.
Ras
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 23:40:23 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Deskinning blanched almonds
Ras answered Patricia Dunham:
><< Of course, I didn't have much in the way of
> fingertips left, after having blanched and slipped the skins off x-many
> pounds of bulk almonds, before we blenderized 'em. >>
>
>A little tip> To remove most of the skin blanch the almonds, drain and place
>on a towel, Wrap them up in the towel and sort of roll, rub and squeeze them
>around Rinse. Repeat process. This removes almost all of the brown skin
>relatively easily.
Alternatively, set some number of 5- to 8-year-olds to squirting the
almonds out of their coverings into a bowl. Then rinse them again before
grinding.
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 08:27:31 -0500
From: Christi Redeker <Christi.Redeker at digital.com>
Subject: RE: SC - onion soup - IP
Mordanna wrote:
>> hmmmm
do I perhaps see a cause? What had been ground in the grinder before the
almonds? I am not defaming your cleanliness, milady, so much as attesting to
the staying power of coffee stains.
Actually, I think the issue is the wine in it. Now that I go back and
read the originals, and then the redaction that I copied instead of
creating my own (bad apprentice, bad) I see the difference. And
besides, my boyfriend bought me the coffee grinder so I could grind
almonds, not coffee, it was brand new.
The originals are as follows:
Harleian MS 279 - Potage Dyvers (Taken from "Take a Thousand Eggs or
More")
xj. Froyde almoundys. Take blake sugre, an cold water, an do hem to in
a fayre potte, an let then boyle to-gedere, an salt it and skeme it
clene, an let it kele; than take almaundys, an blawnche hem clene, an
stampe hem, an draw hew, with the sugre water thikke y-now, in-to a
fayre vessel: an [yf] the mylke be nogt swete y-now, take whyte sugre
an caste ther-to.
Harlien MS 4016 (Taken from "Take a Thousand Eggs or More")
109 Froyte de almondes. Take blak sugur and colde water, and caste the
sugur and the water in a potte; and lete hem boile togidre, and salt,
and skemme hem clene, and let hit kele; And then take Almondes, and
blanche hem clene, and stamp hem in a morter al smal, and drawe hem thik
ynowe thorgh a streynour with sugar water, into a faire vessell. And if
hit so be that the mylke be not swete, take white sugur and cast
thereto; And serue hit forth in the maner of potage, A namly in lenton
tyme.
Now the redaction I followed (evidentially without checking back against
the originals, me bad) reads:
ALMOND MILK
1 cup blanched almonds
2 cups water, wine, or broth
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
dash salt
white sugar to taste
Grind the almonds coarsely with 1 or 2 teaspoons cold water and place
them in a large bowl. Put the water, sugar, and salt in an iron pot and
bring to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the ground almonds and let
sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely and serve as a pottage or
soupy dish. If it is not sweet enough, add white sugar, a teaspoon at a
time, until the mixture is satisfactory.
Now, please remember this is not my redaction, and I do not want to get
into an argument about it comparing to the original. When I made the
almond milk it was late at night and I just took it at face value. I
guess I know why there is the discrepancy now between what Cariadoc,
Mordanna, and Ras all mentioned as the consistency of their almond milk
compared to mine.
Murkial
(the sheepish)
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 10:05:56 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: RE: SC - onion soup - IP
At 8:27 AM -0500 1/15/98, Christi Redeker wrote:
>Now the redaction I followed (evidentially without checking back against
>the originals, me bad) reads:
>
>ALMOND MILK
>
>1 cup blanched almonds
>2 cups water, wine, or broth
>1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
>dash salt
>white sugar to taste
>
>Grind the almonds coarsely with 1 or 2 teaspoons cold water and place
>them in a large bowl.
One point that may not have occured to you is the "grind coarsely." Since
the objective is to get stuff out of the almonds and then throw away the
solid part, I think you want to grind them quite fine--at least, we do.
My favorite "redaction vs original" story involves a stew someone did with
lemons and oranges in it. I asked about the source, which turned out to be
14th or 15th c. English. I expressed skepticism, and was told that it was
in the source. It turned out that the lemons and oranges were in the
(published--possibly _To the King's Taste_) redaction--the original said
"garnish with fruit."
David/Cariadoc
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 21:16:27 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: RE: SC - onion soup - IP
<snip>
>Now the redaction I followed (evidentially without checking back against
>the originals, me bad) reads:
>
>ALMOND MILK
>
>1 cup blanched almonds
>2 cups water, wine, or broth
>1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
>dash salt
>white sugar to taste
>
>Grind the almonds coarsely with 1 or 2 teaspoons cold water and place
>them in a large bowl. Put the water, sugar, and salt in an iron pot and
>bring to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the ground almonds and let
>sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool completely and serve as a pottage or
>soupy dish. If it is not sweet enough, add white sugar, a teaspoon at a
>time, until the mixture is satisfactory.
>
>Now, please remember this is not my redaction, and I do not want to get
>into an argument about it comparing to the original. When I made the
>almond milk it was late at night and I just took it at face value. I
>guess I know why there is the discrepancy now between what Cariadoc,
>Mordanna, and Ras all mentioned as the consistency of their almond milk
>compared to mine.
>
>Murkial
>(the sheepish)
>
Hello! Thank you, milady, for pointing out a typo and a source of
confusion in my redaction of this recipe. Your timing is quite good, since
I am currently putting the finishing touches on the *second edition* of
Take 1000 Eggs. Another few weeks & it'd be at the print shop!
The ingredients list above should read:
2 cups water (or wine, or broth, as noted in the specific recipe**)
**This recipe for almond milk was intended to be used throughout the book,
in many different recipes. Some of these called for a "thrifty" or thin
milk, while others called for a thick milk. Some for wine, and some for
broth or water.
The recipe needs to be amended to give the option of grinding the almonds
to powder in order to yield a smooth pottage. "Grind the almonds coarsely"
is instructed in order to achieve a *clear* milk, which I find difficult to
do when the almonds are ground to flour - the almonds soak up the liquid,
and there are too many particulates (for my tastes) in what little does
trickle out.
BTW, if anyone has noticed anything else that needs fixing, please email
me. Thanks!
Cindy/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 22:07:54 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: RE: SC - Almond milk - IP
> Our almond milk (made with finely ground almonds and water) comes out as
> white as milk, usually a slightly thinner consistancy.
>
> Elizabeth/Betty Cook
That would make sense from a chemistry standpoint. Some recipes call for
grinding the almonds with a few drops of water so that "no Oil may come
to the top" or some such. Since it's pretty clear that the authors of
the recipes don't want the oil floating on top, I think it's a fairly
safe bet to say that almond milk is an emulsion of sorts.
Looking at other emulsions, like, say, cream or mayonnaise, you'd expect
it to be pale and nearly opaque. What I've made in the past has been
along the lines of skimmed milk. White but slightly translucent. I
expect grinding the almonds finer would help.
Adamantius
troy at asan.com
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 10:58:30 -0800
From: "Crystal A. Isaac" <crystal at pdr-is.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk
Michael Macchione (kael) wrote:
> Just had a thought. I've been listening to the discussion on almond milk
> avidly, as I will be making a large batch of in the near future. But I
> only just thought to ask, how long will almond milk last in a refrigerator
> (does it even need to be refrigerated??)
Yup, it needs to be refrigerated. It's made from nuts. Nuts go stale.
Nut oil gets rancid. I've never keep Almond milk for more than a couple
of days, but a cook I respect tells me it will last a week in the
'fridge. Anybody have real experince?
Crystal
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:49:39 -0800
From: "Micheal J. Hobbs" <llewmike at iwaynet.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk
Having made it in the past, I would not recommend keeping it for more
than a week. After that, it starts to discolor and taste funny.
LLEW
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 12:13:17 EST
From: Bronwynmgn <Bronwynmgn at aol.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk
<< Just had a thought. I've been listening to the discussion on almond milk
avidly, as I will be making a large batch of in the near future. But I
only just thought to ask, how long will almond milk last in a refrigerator
(does it even need to be refrigerated??) >>
We made a good bit for our fall event. We started making it a week ahead of
time and kept it refrigerated. What didn't get used (about a gallon and a
half) stayed in the fridge after the event for about another week, at which
point we noticed that it was starting to grow things and dumped it. So I
would say two weeks max. I have no idea if you can freeze it and if that
would extend the life a bit.
Brangwayna Morgan
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 14:54:30 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk
Brangwayna Morgan wrote, concerning almond milk:
>I have no idea if you can freeze it and if that would extend the life a bit.
We froze some once and it was all right when we unfroze it, as I remember.
I would experiment with it more before trying this for a feast, though.
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
Date: 30 Jan 1998 10:21:15 -0800
From: "Marisa Herzog" <marisa_herzog at macmail.ucsc.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk
<snip>Take whole almonds drop them in a pan of boiling water for about 2
minutes,take them out, do the towel rubbing, then follow Cariadoc's recipe
for almond milk.
<snip>
yup! that's it, but you shouldn't need to leave them in for 2 mins. just
keep an eye on them, the skins will start to balloon a bit when they are
loose, then scoop em out and fold them up in a towel and kinda massage/knead
them and they will pop right out of their skins!
- -brid
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 15:22:25 -0600 (CST)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Re: almond milk
Greetings! I haven't tried Cariadoc's towel method for getting the
skins off almonds but sqooshing them between your fingers works fine,
or taking them between your hands and rubbing them together. It's a
good project for when you are watching tv! I usually let the almonds
sit in the boiling water (which is now cooling off) for 5 minutes,
sometimes longer. If a particular almond doesn't want to "strip" for
you, plop it back in boiling water for a few more minutes. Whole,
unblanched almonds seem to retain their flavor and "essence" longer
than those that have been slivered and blanched.
Alys Katharine
Date: Thu, 04 Jun 1998 19:20:09 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - almond milk
> What is a good proportion of almonds to liquid to make almond milk?
> Must one grind the almonds with the liquid or is the almond meal
> from the grinding added to the liquid and stirred/soaked?
>
> Ceridwen
I've had good results by grinding the almonds, pouring 3 or 4 cups
boiling water over each cup of ground almonds, letting them steep for 5
or 10 minutes, blending everything as smooth as possible in a blender,
then straining through a fine strainer or cheesecloth. The blender helps
minimize almond waste, and also helps keep the almond oil from floating
on top.
BTW, you can usually get a second-rate almond milk (as with small beer)
from the strained, used almonds.
Adamantius
Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 09:26:46 +1000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk
At 03:49 PM 04/06/98 -0400, Ceredwin wrote:
> What is a good proportion of almonds to liquid to make almond milk?
> Must one grind the almonds with the liquid or is the almond meal
>from the grinding added to the liquid and stirred/soaked?
It depends on how rich you want your almond milk to be. Almond milk was also
made with wine and/or with stock.
I use a food processor. First process the almonds until fine (fresh ground
yields much more than buying pre-ground). For a rich almond milk I use
1 cup white wine, 2 cups water, 1.5 cups ground almonds. Put these in the
food processor and whiz for 1 minute, then leave for 5 minutes and process
again. The liquid should be cream coloured (you could wait and process again
if you were not in a hurry). Strain through a fine strainer, stirring to get
the liquid through. Save the meal and clean the strainer. Wring out a cloth
with water and line the strainer, then pour the milk through into a clean
bowl. Gather up the cloth and twist until the meal is dry. Dump out the meal
and replace with the meal from the first straining, then repeat to squeeze
out the last of the milk. This is some trouble, but makes a very smooth
almond milk.
BTW if you make soap, the almond meal is a great additive.
Rowan
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 22:26:49 -0400
From: mermayde at juno.com (Christine A Seelye-King)
Subject: SC - Almond Milk
>Has anyone tried subbing almond milk in for cow milk? Results?
>Bogdan
I bought some at the health food store I work at in a Parmalat-type
container. (About 2.99 a qt.) I also buy Parmalat milk in those boxes
for days when we are out of milk. One morning my lord opened the almond
milk up instead of the regular milk (it was there, he just didn't look!)
. So, we had almond milk in our protein drinks, and in our coffee, and I
even drank some just because the container was open and I didn't have
time to cook anything special with it. It was very tasty in all of the
above, even though I wouldn't have chosen to use it that way.
It is a little thinner than anything other than skim milk, and it would
not have the thickening qualities of cow's milk, I wouldn't think.
The taste and texture of the commercial stuff is very nice, it comes in
regular and vanilla, and the ingredients list reads like a medieval
recipie.
Mistress Christianna MacGrain
(But I'm not buying anymore until I have a specific use for it!)
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 00:29:05 -0600From: Tim Allison <tallison at mcs.com>Subject: SC - almond milk in storesWhile shopping at an upscale supermarket in Chicago, I found in an asepticpackage a beverage labelled almond beverage. It said to use in any recipewhere dairy milk might be used. The ingredients are almonds, water, andbrown rice for sweetener. The product is packaged in Oregon, which meansit's probably available in a large part of the country. It's not cheap, butneither are almonds, and the amount of time and trouble it will save areprobably worth quite a bit.Caroline Richenda Carol Mitchell
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 19:23:04 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk
lynnx at mc.net writes:
<< I just bought some almond milk at the supermarket. It's called Naturally
Almond, and the ingredients are almonds, water, and brown rice
sweetener(plus a few stabilizers). I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm not
an expert on how almond milk is supposed to taste. >>
Both I and my co-feastocrat used this product this weekend. We did not find it
objectionable. It is slightly different from regular almond milk in several
ways, but the flavor was good, IMO. It does not seem to have the thickeneing
ability of hand-made almond milk but that was easily over come with a little
rice flour.
Would I use it again? Well, for certain dishes without hesitation but for
others I would use hand-made.
Ras