I don't really have to live dairy free. I was allergy tested this week and I found out that I'm not actually allergic to milk--I just feel like a million times better not eating it. And of all weird things my skin is clear from not eating it for the first time since I was seriously like 11. I think dairy messes with my blood sugar. All that being said, I'm so darn happy that I can have a little butter and cheese now and then. Life without manchego, murcia al vino, and lasagna is a little sad for me. So perhaps the blog should be MOSTLY dairy free.
So after thinking about making my own coconut milk, I thought I'd give it a go. Bittman is right--it is terribly simple to make your own, but there is a trick...
Fresh Coconut Milk from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
2 cups water
2 cups dried unsweetened coconut (I'll throw in without preservatives)
Bring the water to a boil and put in a blender jar. Add the coconut on top (if you put the coconut in first, good luck trying to get it to blend) and whizz away for a few minutes. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or glass measure, pressing down on the solids. This will yield almost 2 cups of coconut milk. Bittman says to use immediately or freeze indefinitely. In reality, I think it can stay in the fridge for a couple of days. Be aware that it will get a layer of thick cream on top that you'll have to whisk back into everything when you use it from the fridge.
Bittman swears up and down that this is cheaper than buying coconut milk in cans...I need to investigate this thoroughly. One thing I'm not thrilled about is the coconut particulates that you're left with at the end. It feels wasteful to me to just chuck them, even though I know that they've given all of their flavor to the milk. I've been eating the leftover coconut in my oatmeal and it tastes pretty decent. I'm thinking about making a cookie with it too...maybe a meringue...I will experiment.
Sassy Strawberry Sorbet
11 months ago
oooh, I was hoping you would give up this recipe!! Thanks!! My husband made his own coconut creamer/syrup to put in his morning Iced Coffee, it was REALLY sweet when I tasted it from the pot, but in the coffee...not so much! Not sure how he made it but his ingredients were: Condensed milk, cocoa, Adam's coconut extract, pure vanilla extract...and I'm not sure what else..he is a "flinger". Just grabbing stuff and throwing it in!!
ReplyDeleteSince you're not allergic, you really ought to see if you can get raw dairy (milk, cheese, butter). It could be that you need the enzymes still in tact that the pasteurization kills.
ReplyDeleteMy SIL is always talking about raw dairy. I think it probably would be a better option for me because I know how much the proteins are changed via the pasteurization process, making them even harder to digest, but I honestly feel so icky eating it at all and my skin itches and breaks out so badly, that I'm rather more inclined to just not eat it.
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