Tropical fruit

[Hester]

I just finished seeding and peeling a large papaya. It's been in the fridge awhile and is quite ripe, but still firm. I don't eat papaya very often, and I'm not sure if I've ever prepared one myself before. This one has a faintly musky scent to it that isn't terribly appealing. I'm not sure if that means it's gone off, or if that's the way it's supposed to smell and that's why I don't usually eat papaya. Perhaps instead of eating it, I'll just throw it in the blender and make a facial mask out of it. (Hmmm... enough to coat my whole body, I think!)

I also have some mangoes in the fridge that should be used up. I really like the small yellow Ataulfo mangoes. They're very sweet, and the flesh isn't as stringy as the bigger red mangoes. Also, the Ataulfo mangoes have a very thin central core, so you get a lot of flesh off them for their size.

The local grocery store sells fresh coconut -- but I'm not sure how to open one. Is it difficult? Do I need a machete?

And the same grocery store also carries plantains. How do I prepare those? Do they need to be cooked? I understand they're starchy, rather than sweet like bananas.

[hurricane]

Coconuts in the grocery store are never fresh. They are the ones that islanders just cast away. The real fresh coconuts are still on the tree and are in green husks. The meat is almost gelatinous and there's a lot more milk that is sweeter than store bought.

The best use of store bought coconuts is shredding them for use in cooking or as toppings for deserts. I don't really recommend them beyond that.

-- Hurricane

[Red Cat Jenny]

Grilled Coconut Pound Cake Sundaes with Tropical Fruit

[Rumba Rue]

I love mangoes, but I don't like papaya-for some reason it tastes kind of yucky-reminds me of some sort of industrial stuff.

Mangoes should be left out to ripen, eaten when just soft enough to feel without being mushy. To cut a mango, take a knife and run it down each side of the fruit along the oblong seed in the middle. Then you can take each piece and make small cross cuts and bend it back and the fruit will give it self up to be eaten. Good ones are really juicy and I tend to eat them over the sink.

[FlintLockSarah]

Colossus Strawberries vine extracted to leave a large hole in the fruit, soak in malibu rum and wip cream.......mmmmm nice summer treat, has to be very cold.

[Red-Handed Jill]

I'm with you on the papaya thing, Rumba. Except it is palatable with lots of fresh lime juice. Seriously - get a slice of papaya and squeeze a lime over it; it's actually pretty good that way.

With mangoes, you can always peel and chop a couple, saute them in a bit of butter and brown sugar, throw in some rum and light the whole thing on fire. Kind of like bananas foster. Spoon it over vanilla ice cream - yummy!

[CrazyCholeBlack]

Plantains:

You can slice them up and sautee with butter, brown sugar and rum just like bananas foster.

or, you can make deep fried plantains, my all time favorite:

Peel plantains and cut into 2-inch rounds on a slant. Heat the oil in a small saucepan until hot but not smoking. Drop the plantain rounds into the hot oil 3 or 4 at a time and cook until well browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and drain. Set each fried plantain on a flat side, and using a rolling pin, frying pan, or whatever else you think will work, squash it as flat as you can. It should have a circular shape. Return the flattened plantain sections to the hot oil 3 or 4 at a time and cook until the entire surface is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the plantains from the oil, drain, and season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Mango

for mango you can do like Rue says, or you can slice it in half and scoop the meat of the mango out with a large spoon, similar to the way you'd scoop an avocado out of its skin. Then you can slice it in longer pieces. This works best when they are slightly unripe though.

also, the best mango tip. Ripen them on the counter and rotate them around daily, so they won't ripen with an overly soft spot.

coconut

go to the health food store and ask for a "fresh young coconut". It should look something like this and might be wrapped in plastic wrap

here's instructions from Rawguru on opening them. Young coconuts are a popular raw foods treat and once you've had one you'll never think of coconut the same way again.

http://www.rawguru.com/html/openyoungcoconut.html

great, now I'm hungry! I need to raid the grocery produce department.

[Captain Tito]

Coconuts in the grocery store are never fresh. They are the ones that islanders just cast away. The real fresh coconuts are still on the tree and are in green husks. The meat is almost gelatinous and there's a lot more milk that is sweeter than store bought.

Aye lads and lasses, tis great advice fer the Mango.

But, when it comes down to it, the truth about coconuts ye gets here in these United States be quite true fer the Mango too.

Ye go into an American store and the Mangoes be green and harder than diamonds. Also no scent whatsoever. A good, ripe mango should be of a shade of bright red mixed with yellow, and maybe SOME green.

They need to have a little give to a small squeeze, and have the sweet smell. Even those that LOOK the part here in the states generally lack the aroma. Ye go down to the islands and the Mango is like a totally different fruit. I find some in American stores worth getting, but most I just leave in the bin.

[HarborMaster]

You might think this is nasty.., I did.., but infact they are delicious.

1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and cubed

5 cubes ice

3 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/3 cups milk

1 teaspoon fresh lemon or lime juice

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

DIRECTIONS

Place avocado, ice, sugar, milk, lemon juice, and ice cream into a blender. Puree until smooth.

You can do the same thing with the Yellow Mango., it too is an awesome drink .

[Red Cat Jenny]

Ahh thanks Habormaster! I have had Hagen Dasz Mango Ice cream which has chunks of fresh Mango in it! mmmm! But Being an Avacado lover, I may just try that!

[Red-Handed Jill]

Aye lads and lasses, tis great advice fer the Mango. But, when it comes down to it, the truth about coconuts ye gets here in these United States be quite true fer the Mango too. Ye go into an American store and the Mangoes be green and harder than diamonds. Also no scent whatsoever. A good, ripe mango should be of a shade of bright red mixed with yellow, and maybe SOME green. They need to have a little give to a small squeeze, and have the sweet smell. Even those that LOOK the part here in the states generally lack the aroma. Ye go down to the islands and the Mango is like a totally different fruit. I find some in American stores worth getting, but most I just leave in the bin.

I usually avoid getting mangoes in supermarkets - yep, hard as diamonds and you can't smell 'em to see if they are indeed a mango or made out of wax or something. Fortunately for me, there's a produce area at the San Jose Flea Market that sells fresh mangoes - and they smell, feel and taste like mangoes are supposed to.

Besides throwing rum on them and lighting them on fire, I've also dehydrated them and put them in tarts.

[Patrick Hand]

Besides throwing rum on them and lighting them on fire, I've also dehydrated them and put them in tarts.

I bet th' Tarts liked it better when you put dehydrated mangoes and rum in them, and NOT light them on fire......

[Manglin' Maggi Maloney]

hey i like sugar and a few drops of lemon juice over my avocados HarborMaster, so that sounds like something i would definantly give a try!

Hester, i get my coconuts a quarter block away at a vegetable stand, they're imported from Mexico. they've got those three little dark spots on the bottom. i just do what my dad taught me to do; get a very sharp pointed knife, and dig into one or more of those little dark spots until something gives, as that's a weak spot in the shell. i do this very near a bowl or glass. once i get a hole into the coconut, i drain off the juice by sitting it in the top of a glass and leave it be for a while, as it drains. shake it if you're not sure, you'll hear liquid in it if it's still got some draining to do.

so many of the ones i get already have cracks in the outside, so once it's drained, i just whack at the cracks with a hammer until i get the thing cracked in two. don't try that until you know you've got it drained, or well.. coconut juice will get everywhere. doing it over a kitchen towel is also a good idea... just in case.

to get the coconut meat out, i use a flat, butter knife, and cut down into the meat to the shell, and do that until i have a triangle shape cutout going, then slip the knife between the meat and the shell and give it a slight twist. the coconut meat should pop loose, but sometimes it takes a few tries to get it going. i just go like that, cutting out triangles of it and munching away. i hope that helps!

[Hester]

Thank you Chole for the plantain advice, and Maggi for the coconut instructions.

I shall have to give them a try.

[Red Cat Jenny]

I'm not a banannas person..but Bananas Foster..yum!

Maybe it's the flambe aspect

[Patrick Hand]

It takes two people to do coconuts right....

One person pokes one or more of the coconuts eyes (the three dark spots) out, and drains the coconut milk from two coconuts into a container....

Then they give the coconut milk to the other person , as they saw the tops off the two coconuts.... As they are sawing the tops off the coconuts, the other person is mixing the coconut milk with rum and other tasty alcohol, for a nice tropical drink, that is served in the shells after they have been sawn, and rinsed of coconut sawdust.... (Paper umbrellas and chunks of fruit are optional) then both people enjoy...

Afterwards, you can pry out the coconut meat and eat it....

Hey... I'm the one sawing the coconuts.... so I don't know what is mixed with the coconut milk and rum.... I just know they are good

[Hester]

Hi, Patrick:

Thanks for that graduate seminar on coconut opening!

What type of saw do you use? (I'm thinking a hacksaw would work.)

[Patrick Hand]

I'm thinking a hacksaw would work.

Nah... a hacksaw has too fine of teeth..... just use a crosscut saw, or even a pruning saw..... you wanna cut it kinda quickly, then you rinse out the sawdust.....

After your done eating all the coconut meat, set it aside,.... sometimes the shell cracks as it dries .... you can flatten the bottom, trim and sand down the coconut shell and make a bowl or tropical mug outta it.....

[Hester]

a pruning saw

Great -- I have one of those! The kind that looks like a giant jacknife:

After your done eating all the coconut meat, set it aside,.... sometimes the shell cracks as it dries .... you can flatten the bottom, trim and sand down the coconut shell and make a bowl or tropical mug outta it.....

Hey, Patrick ... your recipe is for two ... so I can even make a hula top with the shells!:

[Patrick Hand]

so I can even make a hula top with the shells!:

Just be sure to post pictures of you wearing it when your done......

(I never give up do I.......... )

[Hester]

Oh, bugger!

I thought those coconut drinks would be fun to serve at that 5-day beach party I'm hosting starting this coming Monday, so I bought 6 coconuts at the grocery store tonight.

When I got home, I belatedly remembered that two of the guests have nut allergies, and have specifically said they have to avoid coconut (although that is apparently a paranoid over-reaction on their part).

So, anyway, now I can't serve the coconuts at the party at all. I'll have to eat/drink them all by myself over the rest of the summer.

Um ... how long do coconuts keep?

Patrick ... help!

I guess I'll be making chocolate macaroons with all the meat!

"Oh, I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5EQCZnXs1E

[Hester]

Well, trust Monty Python! They know what to do with coconuts:

Of course, they don't migrate to the temperate zones. Something has to carry them:

... sounds a bit like a 'discussion' on the Twill sub-forum, doesn't it?

[Hester]

And of course, Harry Nilsson has some sound medical advice about what to do with coconuts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzWlcbOay5I

"Put the lime in the coconut, drink 'em both up!"

[Red Cat Jenny]

Awww!

[Red Cat Jenny]

Hmm...Granitas..