FINALLY.
A recipe.
After what I consider the biggest move we have ever done, both geographically and quantity-wise, it has taken a while for me to get back into this. We moved from Montana to Florida, from 10 acres in the mountains with a 4000 square foot house to a 10,000 square foot lot, in a neighborhood with a 2000 square foot house. So not only did we have to downsize in regards to furniture, but animals had to go, tools had to go, clothes had to go.
Selling the farm off was huge.
This is a very different life style we are leading here, but no less scrappy 🙂 One of my husband’s favorite things in the world to do, is forage. It doesn’t really matter what he is foraging for, spare car parts to food. He goes for anything he can either use or make money off of.
Well, there are LOTS of bananas, coconut, citrus, starfruit, mango just growing everywhere here and no one really seems to use them! Which to us is complete insanity so he spends quite a bit of time going around on his bike and collecting stuff.
This recipe came about because he came back from a foraging sesh with the boys, with the back of his Land Cruiser filled to the hilt with coconuts the other day. Then he spent the better part of the day, breaking into them and collecting the water and meat.
If you’ve never broken down a coconut before, lets just say I was quite happy to not have to participate. Other than sitting outside with him and encouraging him to keep going while snacking on fresh coconut 🙂
I mentioned something about it on Facebook and my Uncle (who lives in Hawaii) told me I should make Haupia.
I looked up what it was and thought it sounded like a wonderful idea.
It was very easy to make and tasted amazing. We LOVED it.
Creamy and smooth, a little like a custard or a pudding although it doesn’t have any eggs in it so this is a wonderful option if you want a dairy, egg and gluten free dessert.
I got the recipe from the Food Network and I did change a couple things, making it a little less traditional I suppose, but it was really good!
You certainly do not have to have fresh coconut to make this, store bought coconut milk and coconut will work just fine. I used the fresh stuff because…well…you know. I had it, and my husband spent a long time getting it, and it was really yummy.
- 1 quart coconut milk (I made my own by blending 2 cups shredded coconut and 4 cups hot water in my vitamix, on high for about 3 minutes and running it through some cheesecloth)
- ½ cup sugar, vanilla sugar or erythritol if you want sugar free
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Combine the coconut milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the coconut and cook another 5-6 minutes to soften the coconut.
- Combine the cornstarch or arrowroot with the water and pour in the coconut milk mixture, stir until thick. You are looking for a consistency similar to yogurt.
- Add the vanilla extract, stir to combine and then pour the mixture into serving dishes or a 8x8 pan, depending on how you want to serve it.
- Chill until firm, about 6-8 hours, overnight is best.
- Serve with a little toasted coconut or macadamia nuts sprinkled on top.
- Huckleberry Plum Pie - January 1, 2017
- Fresh Mango Sorbet - July 17, 2016
- Steak Caesar Salad - June 8, 2016
