• Start with the jackfruit: Drain and rinse it. Cut off the hard core parts and discard. Do not pull apart the jackfruit, keep the whole pieces, you don't want to make shredded jackfruit. Transfer to a small baking dish, or mixing bowl, and set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix together the almond butter, sesame oil, nutritional yeast, ground cumin, soy sauce, and water. Pour over the jackfruit pieces and stir gently to coat. Let marinate at least 15 minutes.
• Heat a tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add the marinated jackfruit and cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom.
• Pour the white wine and water over the jackfruit.
• Add the sliced carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onion, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and salt. Cover and let simmer over low-medium heat for about 1 and 1/2 hour, checking from time to time to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.
• Remove the onion, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs and discard. Then, stir in the cashew cream and carefully mix to combine. You don't want to stir too much or the jackfruit will pull a part and you will end up with a fibrous texture. You want to keep whole pieces of jackfruit.
• Serve immediately over rice or quinoa. This jackfruit blanquette will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently on the stove and add water as needed to make the sauce creamy again.

Cashew Cream

• Drain the cashews. Add all the cashew cream ingredients to the bowl of a blender and blend on high speed for 1 minute, or until smooth, scraping down the sides if needed. You should get a thick and smooth cream with a subtle tanginess.