Raw kefir cream cheese

This is one of the easiest (and most delicious!) raw things you can do in your kitchen. All you need is kefir, a linen cloth and some kind of flavouring should you desire.

Kefir some milk, at least 1 litre is probably a good quantity. When it is ready, line a plastic or ceramic bowl with a clean linen cloth (teatowel size). You can use cheesecloth or cotton, both work just as well. Pour kefir into cloth and then gather the corners together and tie up with a piece of string or an elastic band. I then tie the bundle to a cupboard handle and let the whey drip down into the bowl. This takes about 24 hours. When it is dry, strape the cream cream from the cloth and store in a plastic container in the fridge. I stir in sea salt, cracked pepper and chives! Serve on toast, with crackers or just on it's own...it is marvelous!

You can drink the whey, or use it in recipes in place of stock or water, for lacto-fermenting vegetables, making ricotta cheese or as a sourdough starter. Sometimes I have a problem with bugs getting into the whey (especially in summer) so I generally refrigerate the bulk of the whey before I go to bed at night and then give anything extra I find in the morning to the pets or chickens and ducks (they don't mind the bugs!)

I learned all about kefir cream cheese from Abby Eagle at Rejoice in Life