On the left, we have pecan milk/flour. On the right, coconut. Yes, made at home, in my kitchen.
First of all, it is good to be back with you. I lost a fight with the End of December and the Depths of January (those bullies, gangin' up on people like that) and have been climbing my way back to civilization since. There's still a lot of cold water down there, but the topper-most feet are feeling warmed by the sun. Here's hoping for a good March.
So anyways! Yeah! Look at all that good fat separating to the top, like the real deal.
Here's how I did it.
DIY Coconut Milk
1 coconut, drained, baked for 20 minutes at 350 (or until the shell has cracked)
4 cups boiling water
food processor
damp tea towel
After your coconut has cooled remove the flesh from the shell and grate about half of it. Roughly 2 cups of finely grated coconut was a pretty manageable amount. Place it in a glass or ceramic bowl.
Pour the boiling water over it and let it stand about 2 hours.
Scoop out about half of the pulp and put it in your food processor. Add about 1 cup of the soaking water and whir on highest for a few minutes, yes three, or more.
Pour this creaminess into your damp tea towel, which you should have lining a large bowl.
Wring as much liquid into the bowl and out of the coconut as you can. Put the nearly dry pulp in a small bowl (more about that later).
Scoop out as much of the pulp as you can and whir with just enough water to keep it creamy. Repeat the tea towel procedure, pouring any leftover soaking liquid through the towel and into the bowl. Really squeeze the stuff as dry as you can.
There's your milk! It isn't as thick as the canned stuff but if you adjust the amount of the boiling water you can change that.
DIY Coconut Flour
Pulp from one batch of milk
parchment paper
baking sheet
Line your sheet with parchment paper and set your oven to the lowest setting possible, usually around 170 degree Fahrenheit
Place your pulp on the sheet and break up the clumps with your fingers. Spread it out as evenly as possible.
Dry in the oven until the moisture is gone. Every ten minutes take it out and give it a stir with your fingers. Rub it around and if it feels at all steamy give a few more minutes. Mine took around an hour, but if you squeeze it harder than I did it might take you less time.
Let it cool and store it in an airtight container.
Pecan Version
This I did pretty much the same way except I used 2 cups of pecans to roughly 3 cups of boiling water. I let them soak over night and them went through the same process as the coconut.
It took a lot longer to dry out the flour and the texture ended up being more like grapenuts than flakes. I had to repeatedly break up the clumps with the fingers, but it smelled amazing every time I took it out of the oven so I didn't mind.
The milk is delicious warmed with a little honey.
So there you go! I project to propel you through the last weeks of winter.
See you around.
