Spicy Pepperoncini Cheese

1 cup raw cashews or almonds
1/3 cup ghee
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. wasabi
     blend till smooth then, after the gelatin is ready,  add and blend briefly
1 Tbs. Cider vinegar
¼ cup sliced pepperoncini

      Gelatin - In a saucepan mix
½ cup water
2 - 4 packets Knox gelatin (more gelatin makes a stiffer cheese)

     Heat to a low boil and stir until it becomes clear.  Blend in the pepperoncini and vinegar into the nut mix in the blender.  Add the nut mixture to the liquid gelatin and stir until smooth and evenly mixed.  Pour into your container and put it into the refrigerator until it sets.

     For a different taste try my Garlic – Caraway Cheese… Replace the Peperoncini with 3-4 cloves of garlic & 2 tsp. Caraway seed.  Or try my Pizza Cheese – add ¼ cup diced pepperoni, and 2 cloves of garlic along with the ¼ cup diced pepperoncini.

     I went to a local pizza joint the other day to try out their gluten free pizza.  I pictured being able to order a nice garlic chicken pizza with pepperoni, hold the cheese.  You know what, holding the cheese completely ruined the pizza.  All that hot gooey melted cheese might have covered up the dry nasty taste of the gluten free pizza crust.  But without the cheese it was miserable. 

     Unfortunately, anyone who is gluten intolerant will also cross-react with casein (milk protein), so no milk products.  (Look around, 30% of us are gluten intolerant, but most of us don’t know it.)  Now here is the real insanity – check out most of the imitation cheeses out there – they add casein to it to make it melt nicely!  Why would anyone want to buy an imitation cheese that has cheese protein added back into it?  The whole point is to avoid the casein.  (No, I am not willing to eat soy cheese – that is as toxic as the gluten.)  What to do?  I know, I will invent a cheese substitute that is non-toxic. I have made cashew "cheese" in the past but it is more like cashew hummus.  I wanted something solid and sliceable that would actually melt like cheese.  Here is my first 3 stabs at it.  It actually melts nicely on a piece of gluten free bread in the toaster oven and tastes delicious.