Fresh Young Coconut

Even if craving fresh young coconut makes me sound like a cougar, I can't resist the tender, creamy flesh...the cool, sweet juice...mmmm...ooooh baby.

To "pick up" one, check the base of the coconut. It should be clear of dark spots and green mold. It should also feel pretty heavy. A good price is under $1.

I use a Chinese cleaver to crack these babies open although I know Whole Foods offer a free coconut cracking service. I don't know the most efficient way, but for me the trick is to imagine a circle you'd like to cut and aiming the bottom corner of the blade, use decisive, steady blows. Don't whack carelessly. Focus and conserve your energy. You know you're not concentrating your energy if it takes more than 20 blows. Oh! And don't forget to peel any plastic or stickers off of it before you start otherwise, you'll the knife might drag that trash into your coconut when you start working into it.

Grab a spoon and a straw, mama. He's ready.

Fresh Mint Tea

Laugh all you want but the idea of sticking fresh mint into a cup of hot water was absolutely novel to me! Que triste I'm so used to the old, dry stuff that I would never connect vibrant green foliage with tea.

Sprigs of fresh mint of your choice
A wedge of lemon
Hot water

I didn't muddle the mint leaves or bruise them at all and it was still pretty good but it's possible to milk them for more flavor.

Taro Tapioca Dessert

I remember first having this super chilled, sweet soup when I was a kid at Kirin in Mountain View, CA.; the perfect place for late night dining, turtle soup, and chow fun. You don't always get dessert there, and I could never figure out how the waiters decided to give it to us or not, but whoo! What a pleasant surprise when we did!

There are a two variations of this dessert here that can be served hot or cold:

Condensed Milk Way
1/2 lb of taro, skin removed, cut into 1" cubes
1/4 C dried tapioca
1 can of condensed milk

Fill pot with taro and enough water to cover. Boil until fork tender. Mash up the taro with a fork, or you can use an immersion blender.

Add the tapioca to the same pot, turn down the heat to a simmer. Stir frequently to prevent the starch from sticking to the bottom of the pan. You may want to add water as the tapioca absorbs it. When tapioca is all transparent, add condensed milk to taste. You can also thin out the soup with more water or milk.

8.8.10
Used coconut cream instead of milk because that's all I had in my cupboard, but realized that coconut cream is good for mango sticky rice and not here because it's way too thick. I had to thin it out a lot with the taro water.

Coconut Milk Way
1/2 lb of taro, skin removed cut into 1" cubes
1/4 C dried tapioca
1 can of unsweetened coconut milk
1-2+ large blocks of rock sugar, or about 1/4+ C granulated sugar

Boil taro until tender, do not drain.

Boil tapioca in a different pot according to package directions until translucent and drain.

Bring to a simmer the coconut milk in another pot and dissolve the sugar in it (to taste), finally add taro and tapioca. Once again in this recipe, you may want to add more water (using the taro boiling water), or milk to thin out the soup, but if the tapioca is drained well enough, the starch from it may not thicken the soup.

Serves 8

Passion Sunrise

Basically a 1:3 (pino to juice) ratio, but alterable depending on how much flavor (Pinot) or sweetness (juice) you want. Light, refreshing, sweet with a slight tang.

Barefoot's Pinot Grigio
Passion Fruit (Welch's)
Ice

Chai Latte

My first time! The recipe looks complicated because I wrote down two paths you can take depending on how many people you'd like to serve, but this is really quite simple.

For 2 Servings

1 1/2” cinnamon stick
4 green cardamom pods
4 black cardamom pods (adds a smoky flavor, but hard to find so you can substitute with green ones)
10 whole cloves
2 peppercorns
5 thin slices fresh ginger
2/3 C 2% milk (calls for whole, but 1% was ok, but maybe 2% would be better)
2 Tbsp sugar
4 tsp Darjeeling tea leaves
→not available at Stater Bros., Wal-Mart, Target, but Ralph’s had some in tea bags. Maybe 2 tea bags.

For 10-11 Servings

2 4” cinnamon sticks ($9.99/lb bulk cheap)
40 cardamom pods
50 whole cloves
10 peppercorns
25 thin slices of ginger
3 1/3 C whole milk
10 Tbsp sugar
and about 12 tea bags
7 1/2 C of water

Select 2 mugs. In a saucepan, combine the cinnamon, cardamom pods, cloves, peppercorns, ginger slices, and 11/2 C water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the liquid becomes aromatic, about 10 minutes. You can prepare up to this point the night before and let it sit and reboil in the morning.

Add the milk and sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the tea leaves, remove from the heat, cover and let steep until the chai is the desired strength, 3-5 minutes.

If you have an espresso machine, steam and froth half of the chai according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Return the chai to the pan. Pour the chai through a tea strainer or fine-mesh sieve into the mugs, dividing it evenly, and top with the foam. Alternatively, reheat the chai over medium heat and pour into the mugs. Serve at once.

Milk Green Tea from Japan

I don't know what brand this is or what it says, but I got it straight from Mika in Japan. It's a sweet green tea latte that dissolves in hot or cold water. Perfect shaken and on the rocks.

Peach Nectar Punch

I never get pictures of drinks...but this turns out to be a light and pretty tangerine color.

Peach Juice ($3.69 for 64 oz. @ TJ's)
White Grape Juice ($1.50/64 0z @ Von's)
Ginger Ale ($1/64 oz @ Von's)

Use equal parts of peach and white grape juice and then 1.5-2 bottles of ginger ale. If you're feeling particularly festive, throw in some frozen peach slices. Do not add ice to the bowl.

About 20 12oz. servings

Cranberrybob Fruit Punch

The mixture comes from my crazy mind, the crazy name comes from Jolene's. Looks like light fruit punch. Very pretty, but scary to see Giulia hold a glass of it while in her white wedding dress.

2 bottles Ginger ale (64 oz.)
1 bottle Cranberry Cocktail Juice (64 oz.)
frozen peaches defrosted (1/2 pound)
frozen strawberries defrosted (1/2 pound)

Puree the defrosted fruit with an immersion blender. Add the juice and ginger ale.

Avocado Smoothie

YES! We've conquered the system! Even with avocados costing $1.50 at the store, we'd still be saving money! Goodbye Tapioca Heaven, Hello Susanne & Diana's In-house Boba Shop...Spectacular!

I know avocado smoothies sound disgusting (and I'm sure this picture doesn't help) but trust me--they are oh-so creamy and sweet!! Honestly, you haven't lived until you've had one. I mean, Ben and Jen Gallarda and Erica love them too! It's not just some freaky thing only Susanne and I like....

1/2 avocado
1/3 C condensed milk
1/2 C milk
8 ice cubes (approximately 1 C ice)

**You can also substitute the condensed milk for sugar.

Blend everything together. You can thicken or thin with more/less ice, more/less milk, and sweeten/thin with condensed milk to taste. Should be served with boba.

Serves 2