Coconut Madness

I have never liked coconut. My experiences with it were things like cupcakes, German Chocolate cake, and nasty suntan oils. I just never like the flavor or the feel of it in my mouth. For the most part, I also didn't like its aroma, but that might have been due to the suntan oils.

Enter Alton Brown and Good Eats, with his Coconut Cake Revival episode. The first time I watched it, his making extract, coconut milk and coconut cream from a coconut is what got my attention (yes, I was thinking soap LOL). Some time after that, because of trying to expand my cooking experiences, I decided to try some Thai inspired dishes that used coconut milk. For the heck of it, I tasted the milk (canned, Thai Kitchen brand), and WOW, I really liked it. So I've been using it quite a bit the past few months. Caught the episode again, and have been toying with the idea of making the cake because I've been enjoying the flavor of the coconut milk.

I've used canned coconut milk in:
* Thai inspired
* Curries
* Pudding

I finally bought a coconut and spent several days discombobulating it. Due to my Carpal Tunnel and arthritis, it left me in severe pain for awhile.

Day 1: For ease of getting the liquid (aka Coconut Water) out, forget the ice pick and mallet. Use an electric drill (which AB suggests) or a drill press (which my husband did because he couldn't find his electric drill ... don't ask!!). A 1/4" bit will do the job fine. I turned the coconut hole side down into a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup (it fit nicely without getting stuck or going too far down). I first strained the liquid through a mesh strainer to remove the larger debris. After cleaning the strainer, I put a coffee filter in it, and restrained the liquid to remove the finer sized particles. Once strained, the liquid went into a screw top jar and into the refrigerator. Warning: Take heed of Alton’s note that the coconut water keeps for up to a week in the refrigerator. Yep, I forgot about it, and nope, you don’t want to know what it looked like.

Day 2: Opening the coconut can be daunting. The one I bought had a pre-cut groove running around the "equator", which I'm sure helped since the outer hull had been breached a bit. Do follow AB's suggestion of heating the coconut first (let it cool enough to handle safely!!). I did have to resort to a flat head screw driver and mallet for this, but it wasn't overly difficult (due to the groove I'm sure). After separating the two halves, I put them in a zipper closing plastic bag and refrigerated until the next day.

Day 3: Removal of the flesh. I worked a butter/table knife between the flesh and shell, shimmying it back and forth as well as up and down. I did this all around the coconut half. Then I started prying the flesh loose. With the first half, I broke off two small pieces and one somewhat larger piece, with the remaining 2/3 or so coming out in one piece. I did much better with the second half, and the whole thing came out in one piece. I returned the flesh to the plastic bag, and refrigerated.

Day 4: Peeling the flesh. Man, I need a better peeler. My old one just doesn't cut it. The 'skin' on the flesh is not easy to peel off either because it's quite stiff and kind of bark-like. After some laborious work, it was done. I rinsed the flesh to remove the powdery debris, let them dry, and back into the refrigerator they went while I took ibuprofen and gave my hands a rest.

Several hours later, it was time to shred the flesh. I wasn't about to use my box grater. I was already in pain, and didn't want to cause myself more. I don't have a food processor. So I grabbed a salad shooter given to me by a friend so I could shred soap (which I haven't used it for that yet). It worked okay, but no way can these shreds be used on or in most foods. If you've ever shredded soap with a salad shooter, you know what I mean. After shredding, I spread the coconut out on a baking sheet and popped it into the freezer long enough for the shreds to harden, yet separate easily. Then I put them into a freezer bag until I decide how to use them. I have an old Little Oskar that I can use the grind the shreds up a bit. I know this will work fine for coconut to make the extract, milk and cream. I'm not so sure it will work too well for coconut to put in or on food.

I did nibble on a couple of pieces of coconut during the days I was working on it. Still not sure I like the feel of it in my mouth, but the flavor is a whole lot better than the nasty stuff on the grocery store baking aisle.

I'm still debating whether or not to try my hand at baking AB's coconut cake. I've never done a whole lot of baking from scratch, and never a cake, so I'm a little leery. But I'll probably go ahead and do it early next week, sans the shredded coconut between layers and coating it (which will have to wait until I get a food processor).

And I still haven't thrown the shell away. I'm not sure I can do anything with it, but until I figure it out, I'm not tossing it.

Alton Brown’s:
* Coconut Cake with 7-Minute Frosting
* Coconut Milk & Cream
* Coconut Extract

See the companion post at DPN News