Coconut recipes

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In a strange way, I kind of like the taste of the sutherlandia OPC. Maybe I'm a looney toon. Who knows.Anyway, I'm not as well versed on health, so usually I'm asking for guidance, not offering it, but here's an area that I'm pretty good at. Personally, I would never buy tinned coconut milk or cream. The flavor here is way better, plus these are cooked at a lower temp. Here are my recipes for coconut milk and coconut cream:*Coconut milk:Flesh of one coconut, grated. (Use the food processor with the grating attachment. Box graters are great, but NOT in this case! :-) Lol.) 1.5 cups hot, not boiling, water. Place coconut in a pyrex bowl. Cover with water, stir. Allow to cool to room temp, stirring every few minutes while still warm. Once cooled, Place a strainer over another bowl. Place two pieces of cheesecloth (or a light muslin tea towel) over the strainer and pour. There will be a lot of liquid still in the coconut. Bring the corners of the cloth together and twist the fabric to wring the liquid from the coconut. This is your coconut milk. Refrigerate in glass. Should last about a week. Coconut cream:Flesh of one coconut, grated. Coconut water from one coconut. Heavy cream Mix coconut water with heavy cream to make one quart of liquid. In a heavy bottomed saucepan combine grated coconut and liquid. On a medium low flame, bring to a slow, low boil, stirring often. Cut flame and cover with lid. Cool to room temp. Using the same method, strain as above. For both these recipes, make sure to dry grated coconut for use in other things! Coconut extract: (I wouldn't mix this with OS, but it's a great recipe nonetheless!)1.5 oz fresh grated coconut (about 1/3 cup)4 oz vodka Glass mason jar. Put coconut in mason jar. Add vodka. Seal and shake to combine. Put in a cool dark place (pantry cupboard) for 7 days, shaking every day. Strain and discard coconut. When kept in a cool dark place, extract is good for a year. Coconut prep:Select a specimen with a firm shell with no cracks. It should look fresh and be heavy for its size. Shake. There should be a fair amount of coconut water inside. Look at the three eyes. They should be fresh looking, not mushy or bad. To open, use an ice pick or screwdriver and a mallet and bore out two of the eyes. (I'm a boy--i use a cordless drill with a 3/8" drill bit!)Drain, reserving coconut water. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place coconut on a sheet pan. Place in oven for 15 minutes. The shell should have cracked. Using a dull knife (an oyster knife and glove is GREAT for this) remove flesh. Peel using a vegetable peeler. *COOKS NOTE: these recipes are also part of the most incredible coconut cake recipe EVER. Would be willing to share if anyone is interested. :-)There are my coconut recipes. They are a ton of work, but worth it. I will say that I've never used raw coconut in them, so I'm not sure if it is more healthful or not. (It is a nightmare to get the flesh out of an unheated coconut, IMO) Also, these recipes call for the removal of the dark brown husk from the coconut flesh with a peeler. I don't know if it would be better to leave it on in this application. Melly, what do you think? Love and blessings from rainy seattle, Sean. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&TMaracuja Fri, 9 Jan 2009 15:42:12 -0800 (PST)<oleander soup >Re: coconut milk - taste of oleander soup Hello Pam, Don't get the supermarket varieties - they have all been "stabilised". Can't remember what the stabiliser is now. Ceres Whole Foods put out an organic one which needs a heap of mixing as it separates without the stabiliser. I've seen others available at health food stores which might be cheaper.It is beautiful stuff though. Haven't ever seen the "juice" in NZ, just the cream or milk.Good luck.Maracuja--- On Fri, 1/9/09, Pam Griffin <pgriff.nz> wrote:Pam Griffin <pgriff.nz>Re: coconut milk - taste of oleander soupoleander soup Date: Friday, January 9, 2009, 2:55 PM I can only get coconut cream here in a can,spose its the same thing? will give it a go today ...choice... Pam NZ