Fresh Roasted Coconut

I'm not a big nut person (except hazelnuts and macademia nuts), but coconut fascinates me. Just looking at it makes me happy. It has such a distinct smell and flavor that I can't get enough of. Coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut extract, coconut oil, coconut flakes...love it, love it, expecially roasted coconut. I've had it at a random stand on a little road in Maui, and some of the nut carts in NY have roasted coconut too. I don't really have the opportunity to get it that often, so I was pretty excited to give it a try after I cracked open that coconut the other day. Expecially since I can make a whole bunch for $3, cheaper than a tiny, tiny bag from a cart dude.

COCONUT
They say you can hit coconuts with the back of a knife in a cirle to open them, that didn't work so I just chucked mine out on our porch and drained the excess coconut water. After that I put it in a 250° oven for about 10 min to loosen the skin, then it came out pretty easy just using a butter knife (the light brown skin is fine to leave on). I used 2 coconuts. (one I had tried to blend, leaving big chuncks and shavings)

ROASTING
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg white
½ C brown sugar
1/3 C sugar
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
3 C diced coconut (or you could use almonds etc.)
Heat oven to 250°. Beat egg, add vanilla and pour onto coconut in a sealable containter, stir. Mix sugar, salt, and cinnamon and sprinkle onto coconut, seal and shake. Spread onto a sheet covered in foil. Bake 60-80 min, stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container.




Its okay that I ate this for lunch, right? 

My mom said when she lived in Mexico they would cut up fresh coconut and put lime juice, chili powder, and salt on it. Yum, that'll have to be my next coconut adventure!