How is Coconut Cream Concentrate used?
You can mix 1 or 2 teaspoons of Coconut Cream Concentrate with water or juice to make a creamy coconut drink. Many people put it in their coffee as a non-dairy creamer. It is also an excellent ingredient for cooking and baking. Because of its low moisture content, it can be mixed right in the batter or dough of breads and pastries. It can also enhance soups, be blended with smoothies, or made into ice cream. Many people just eat it straight, or spread it on breads and crackers, because it is so delicious! For some great recipes, get the Virgin Coconut Oil book. See also recipes below.
Note: in colder weather Coconut Cream Concentrate will become hard, due to the high amount of natural coconut oil and fiber. It needs to be warmed to liquefy. But this is a food, not a cooking oil. If you use high heat, it will burn.
WONDER GRUEL:
INGREDIENTS
• 1 small handful of raw walnuts
• 1 small handful of raw pecans
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed (we can get this from the grain mill)
• 1/2–1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• 1 banana, mashed
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut milk made from coconut cream concentrate, (we can get this from the grain mill also).
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds – (haven’t used these yet)
• 1 handful of goji berries or fresh berries (I haven’t gotten into goji berries either)
DIRECTIONS
Soak walnuts and pecans in filtered water and real salt overnight. I make a double batch (which provides us four meals), so I use 3 cups of water and just over 1 tsp. real salt. Strain. This is a Nourishing Traditions standard method of preparing raw nuts.
Add walnuts, pecans, flax seed and spices to a food processor and pulse it down to a coarse grain, making sure to stop before it’s totally ground into a powder. Set aside.
Whisk together eggs and coconut milk until the consistency thickens a little bit into loose custard. Thoroughly blend together the mashed banana and almond butter and add it to the custard, mixing well.
Stir in the nut mixture. Gently warm on the stove until the “no-atmeal” reaches your desired consistency; this should only take a few minutes. Stir the mixture frequently as it cooks, because it will easily burn. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds and berries on top. Add more coconut milk if you want. Other fun additions could be coconut cream concentrate or shredded coconut.
How is Coconut Cream Concentrate different from canned coconut milks and creams?
Commercial coconut milks and creams are generally sold in cans, or sometimes boxes and tetra packs. The main ingredient in these products is water. If the fat content is 17%, it is called "coconut milk." If the fat content is 24%, it is called "coconut cream." But most of what you are purchasing is water. Coconut Cream Concentrate, on the other hand, has NO water, and is pure coconut. Unlike the commercial varieties, it also contains ALL the fiber of the coconut. Pure, dried coconut contains more fiber per gram than even oat bran! This fiber has been stripped out of commercial coconut milks and coconut creams. Also, almost all commercial coconut milks and creams have additives to prevent the water from separating from the coconut oil, and also have sulfites added to keep it white longer. Sometimes these additives are so small, that the FDA does not require them to list them on their labels as ingredients. Coconut Cream Concentrate, however, contains NO additives and NO preservatives at all: it is 100% natural coconut made from certified organic Philippine coconuts grown without pesticides or fertilizers. Coconut Cream Concentrate comes packaged in 1 pint glass jars. |