Coco Coco a Go Go!

Since I was young girl, I was under the impression that coconut (anything) was bad for you. Too much cholesterol, too much fat..just too much of a good thing.  Within the past year, I learned that notion was wrong. Coconuts are actually quite good for you. Delicious & Nutritious.

 

After yoga yesterday, our instructor invited us to join him for some home-made coconut milk, almond milk and chilled coffee. Yeah, he didn't have to tell me twice.

I had heard of making your own coconut and almond milk before, but had never tried it. Tasting his home-made coconut milk had my head spinning. It was one of the best things I had ever tasted, no joke.

I drove straight to the store and bought two coconuts, a young one and a ...regular one. I only needed to crack them open, extract the water & meat, and blend it all together! This was going to be a piece of cake.

Well, kind-of. The young coconut was easy to open with a chisel and hammer.  The regular coconut was not the same story. And definitely not worth purchasing in the future. After taking my mom's suggestion of roasting the coconut for 15 minutes at 375 degrees, I tried the same chisel and hammer maneuver, unsuccessfully. Bobby then had the brilliant idea of getting out the sledge hammer. He tried that, and that worked. Worked so well half of it flew into the pool.

And Voila! We were ready to make the coconut milk. Blend blend and I got two pints of this crazy amazing stuff. Although I think I'll stick to buying it in the store from now on.

The Best Tacos, I've Ever Had.

You heard me. That is correct. And they were made at the Van Buren's house this evening. You want to know what was in them? OK.

Organic corn tortillas. Barbequed wild shrimp from the Florida Keys, basted in chipotle pepper and adobo sauce. Barbequed sweet red corn (in their husks) sprinkled with smoked paprika. Organic black beans. Sweet potato, caramelized onions,grilled garlic & habenero pepper puree. Minced cilantro. Home-made mexican crema with chipotle peppers. Home-made barbequed tomatillo salsa & mango salsa. Shredded purple cabbage & carrots. ABSOLUTE LOVE. And perhaps one of the top 5 meals of my life.

I recommend you try them. Email me for recipes.

Soon to be featured on Yummy Soup!

Summertime Feasts

CLAMS!!

This past week, I spent some time in upstate New York with my family. Not only was I excited to relax at the lake with my book, I was stoked to be spending the week with two amazing chefs.  One of which was my mother, of course, and the other was Sharon, one of my mom's best friends.

 Upon arriving at the lake, we endeavored to plan some delicious home-cooked meals. For one of the nights, we decided to make barbequed clams with a lemon butter sauce. I had never barbequed shellfish before, let alone thought about barbequing a live animal, so this was going to get interesting.

I was in charge of removing the clams (gently- so as not to spill the salt water inside of them) off the grill when they began to open up their little shells. Sharon brushed the lemon butter sauce inside each shell. My mom supervised, wine in hand, whilst Jasmine looked at all of us with culinary aversion. 

Barbequed clams were not her cup of tea.

But they were ours!!! So much so, that we ended up making them again 2 days later

 

....MmmmmmMMMMmmmm

_________________________________________________________________________

 How to Get it Done:

Ingredients:
30 - 40 Clams Or Mussels Or 24 Oysters, well scrubbed 4 Tbsp (1⁄2 stick) Butter 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic 1⁄4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce, or more to taste
Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice To Taste

Directions:
1. Prepare a grill; the heat should be medium-high and the rack about 4 inches from the fire. When the grill is hot, put the shellfish directly on the grill, or put them in a basket and put the basket on the grill.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on part of the grill not exposed to direct heat (a shelf works well here if your grill has one); add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice and let the mixture warm for a couple of minutes.
3. As the clams open — some will take a minute or two; others will take longer — transfer them to a platter, and move the more stubborn ones to hotter parts of the fire. Try to keep the liquid in the shells of those that open, but don't worry if you lose some. When they're all cooked, drizzle the “barbecue” sauce over them and serve immediately.

Metrics:
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Prep Time: About 15 minutes

Brought to you by YummySoup!