Let’s talk about kitchen disasters. They happen to everyone. One just happened to me a few hours ago. I had to throw away a batch of donuts, for which I lovingly sprouted and dehydrated all kinds of grains and used all sorts of other wonderful ingredients. They went rancid the second I mixed all the components, probably due to the combination of oats and coconut (which is a common problem we talked about here).
But sometimes, those disasters are okay. They make us learn, use our creativity, or lead to a totally new and unplanned dish.
That was the case with these tartines. They were meant to make up a roulade, filled with that wonderfully thick coconut cream cheese and maybe even some avocado. I was so excited for this dish, maybe a little too much so, but it was not in the stars. The coriander bread, although soft and crumbly, would not roll without cracking or breaking – it was obvious that it wanted to stay flat.
The next logical step, after shedding a few tears, was to make an open face sandwich. I grew up eating tartines. They are a very common snack in Russia, and are often used as a solution to an empty fridge. You see, there is always some bread and butter in a Russian household, even when the refrigerator is cleaned out.
This coconut-cilantro cream cheese has a delightful texture, both thick and fluffy. The coriander bread thins have an earthy, bread-like taste and take to the cream cheese very well. Then, it’s nice to offset the richness of both with some fresh, seasonal veggies. We topped our tartines with heirloom cherry tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers, radish, and a few sprinkles of green onion rings. A very special snack that made us forget all about the kitchen disaster.
As for that roulade, I will eventually conquer it. Just wait!
Coriander Bread Thins
2 cups raw cashews – soaked overnight
1 cup meat of fresh young Thai coconut
1/2 cup Irish moss – thoroughly washed and soaked in hot water for at least 10 minutes
1 cup water from fresh young Thai coconut or purified water
1 tablespoon honey or another sweetener of choice
3 garlic cloves – 2 whole, and 1 finely chopped
1 small chili – 1/2 of it finely chopped
2 teaspoons coriander seeds – ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds – ground
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup brown flax seeds – ground
1/8 cup ground almonds
1 cup chopped cilantro
In a high speed blender, combine all but the last three ingredients, 1/2 of the chopped chili, and one chopped garlic. Blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture in a large mixing bowl, add flax seeds, almonds, cilantro, chopped chili and garlic. Mix thoroughly and spread evenly on one Teflex-lined dehydrator tray(or two, for thinner bread). Dehydrate for about 20 hours at 115F, flip over, peel away Teflex sheet, and dehydrate on the screen only until dry to touch and ready to be cut. Cut into pieces of desired shape, dehydrate more if needed. Bread should be somewhat soft inside, but not too moist.
Coconut-Cilantro Cream Cheese
1 cup meat of fresh young Thai coconut
1/2 cup water of fresh young Thai coconut
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/8 cup Irish moss – thoroughly washed and soaked in hot water for at least 10 minutes
1/2 cup macadamia nuts- soaked overnight
1/2 cup cashews- soaked overnight
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water
zest of 1 lime
freshly ground black pepper – to taste
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves or other herbs of your choice – chopped
Put coconut meat, water and oil in a high-speed blender together with the Irish moss and blend until smooth.
In a food processor, mix the rest of the ingredients, with the exception of cilantro, until it reaches a ricotta cheese-like consistency. Transfer the mixture into a medium sized bowl and fold the coconut mixture in, mixing with a wooden spoon to combine everything together thoroughly. Mix in the cilantro.
You may want to double the bread recipe for this amount of cream cheese, or use the cream cheese access with other bread or crackers.
la domestique says
The tartines are so pretty! Thanks for sharing the journey, it’s good to know we all have our struggles.
Amy says
Haha, kitchen disasters happen to me more than I’d like to admit :) Thanks for bringing up this topic! And these lovely recipes.
JB says
Great blog! We eat highly raw diet, but I don’t have much experience with dehydrating raw foods as we don’t own one, can you tell me how to know when its rancid? Is it obvious like with cooked food (smells bad, etc.) Thanks!
Corrine says
Beautiful website…and post! The textures and colors in these photos are so rich and work so well together. Can’t wait to see more!
Victoria says
How long does it take you to get a cup of young coconut meat? The few times I’ve worked with young coconuts, it was really difficult, took forever and only yielded about a 1/4 cup!
Sous Chef Sean says
It’s just not fair, even when you have a so called ” Kitchen disaster” you still produce wonderful eats and treats! Love the combo and creativity.
Golubka says
Thanks for your comments, everyone!
JB, it’s very obvious after you taste it, there’s a very specific, unpleasant taste ;)
Victoria, getting a cup of coconut meat is definitely not very easy. It really depends on luck more than anything, as sometimes you will get coconuts with very thin meat (which just means it’s very young) or sometimes thicker meat (older coconut). Typically, for one cup of meat, you need anywhere from 2 to 4 coconuts.
Julie the Alkaline Sister says
Mmmmm looks absolutely divine, I’ll have to try the cream cheese when I can find a few coconuts!
Tuuli says
Beautiful pictures!
celia says
I love it when an accident ends up turning into a fantastic recipe! Great job, this recipe looks so good.
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Indian says
That’s more than seslibne! That’s a great post!
Ceylon Pure says
Looks yummy!