Opening a Coconut the Safe and Easy Way!!

Fresh Coconut - I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love the flavor and texture, but I hate what I have to endure going through to get into that shell! I'd do it every once in a while, just for the fun of it (not), but after sustaining an incredibly painful injury to the palm of my hand while attempting to open a fresh coconut with a hammer several years ago (a supposedly fool proof way - wrong), I decided it would be best to avoid the wicked beasts for the rest of my life! That was, until recently when I watched Martha Stewart demonstrate what looked like an incredibly easy and SAFE technique, so I thought I'd give it a try.

YES! Martha's technique worked like a charm and I'll never again be afraid to crack open a coconut. Thank you Martha!!

Okay, here we go:

When you're at the grocery store, be prepared to Shake-Shake-Shake. Select a coconut with plenty of juice in it - they start off completely filled with juice and slowly, over time, the juice evaporates. Pass on coconuts with little or no juice.

The hardest part about this technique is making the holes to drain the juice. I like to use a drill. Power tools in the kitchen are fun.

Hello Handsome.

Next drain the yummy coconut juice. Drink it up - it's naturally high in electrolytes.

Now we pop that baby into a preheated oven and wait for this to happen. Can you hear the angels sing??

Happy-happy.

Peel and Enjoy!

Look at that glorious mound of coconut love.

Items used for this technique:

• electric drill https://amzn.to/3zHvB17

• commercial half sheet pan https://amzn.to/3T0r1lm

• oxo peeler https://amzn.to/3UD6bdh

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Opening a Coconut the Safe and Easy Way

• 1 fresh coconut

• 1 oven, preheated

• 1 oven proof container

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F with the oven rack placed in the center.

2. Drain the liquid out of the coconut (see note below).

3. Place the drained coconut in a shallow pan and place it in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the hard outer shell is visibly cracked.

4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

5. Peel the dark skin from the coconut meat using a vegetable peeler. Your coconut is now ready to slice or shred.

Note

• The easiest way I find to puncture the eyes of the coconut is to use an electric drill, but some people report good results using an ice pick, screwdriver, or hammer and nail.

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10 Secrets for making Pizzeria Quality Pizza at Home

I know, I know... you can't make pizzeria quality pizzas in your humble home oven, right? Wrong.  You can!!

This post contains affiliate links.

Look, no soggy bottom crust here. Oh yeah baby!

You want to make some, don't you? Uh huh, you know you do.  Okay, wipe the drool off your keyboard and pay attention.  I'm going to share some of my pizza making secrets with you.  You'll thank me later. 

Secret #1 - Start by placing a pizza stone or baking steel on the 2nd lowest rack position in your oven and preheat it at 475F for an entire hour. I know that sounds like a long time, but trust me, you won't be disappointed when you bite into that crisp bottom crust.

A note on pizza stones (aka baking stones) - they start off very light in color and darken with use.  The darker they get, the more "seasoned" they become; developing a non-stick patina, like a cast iron pan.  These stones are great for baking bread and cookies too.  I highly recommend one for every kitchen. 

Secret #2 - I take my blob of risen pizza dough (recipe below) and press it into a 12-inch circle on a piece of parchment paper.  This eliminates the need for cornmeal or flour on the bottom of your crust (which I find very icky).

Secret #3 - Use a pizza peel to easily transfer the wet, sticky dough to the searing hot baking stone. To easily remove the crust from the oven, just grab a corner of the parchment and pull off the oven shelf, back onto your peel.

Secret #4 - I "dock" my dough to keep from developing big air bubbles during the baking process. You can use a fork to do this, but this cool tool is fun to use - poking holes all over the portion of the dough that will hold the toppings.

Secret #5 - I prebake the naked crust for 7-10 minutes. Note how the undocked edges rose during baking, while the docked center did not.

Secret #6 - I brush the edges of the crust with Garlic Oil.

Add your favorite jarred or homemade San Marzano Tomato Sauce and toppings.  You'll add whichever toppings you like, but I'm a purist - plain ole cheese pizza for me. I do, however, have to doctor it a little bit to mimic the nyc pizzeria pies of my childhood (which just so happens to be my next secret).

Secret #7 - I sprinkle a good healthy dose of dried oregano on top of that cheese. Again, trust me, this takes the pizza to an entirely new level. Now back into the 475F oven for another 7-10 minutes.

Secret #8 - Oops, I forgot to get a picture of this step, but when you take your finished pizza out of the oven, brush the edges with a little more olive oil and a light sprinkling of garlic salt. In this particular case, I used garlic flavored olive oil and a sprinkling of Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt (awesome stuff!).  Don't worry, the crust will absorb the oil so your fingers won't get too greasy, and it helps to keep the edges from being too dry.

Hubby and the kids are pepperoni pizza fans. If hubby had his way, there would be 2 or 3 times more pepperoni on this pizza.

Secret #9 - A while back I shared a tip about cutting brownies - you remember, use a plastic knife because the brownies won't stick to it?  Same theory applies here - this Oxo Non-Stick Pizza Cutter is designed for non-stick bakeware, but an added bonus is the fact that melted cheese doesn't stick to the hard plastic cutting wheel.  Nothing worse than using a cutter that pulls all the stringy melted cheese off your pizza, so I purchased this cutter the second I saw it at the store. It works perfectly and leaves all that wonderful cheese in place.

Secret #10 (last one) - If you don't have a pizza peel to transfer your pizza to and from the oven, you can use a flat cookie sheet or an upside down sheet pan like the one I used above.  A splatter screen works well too.

I hope you'll give some of my secrets the next time you make homemade pizza. Enjoy!

Links to some of the items used:

(affiliate links)

• stand mixer https://amzn.to/3zEXreh

• active dry yeast https://amzn.to/3UpWvTj

• pizza peel https://amzn.to/3WEqfhd

• pizza stone https://amzn.to/3r5Fu1y

• baking steel https://amzn.to/3DW7EFK

• dough docker https://amzn.to/3FFuOl7

• garlic oil https://amzn.to/3tFCVVq

• silicone pastry brush https://amzn.to/3T6wCGJ

• Jane's krazy mixed up salt https://amzn.to/3UpSJcx

• san marzano tomatoes https://amzn.to/3NtxDaR

• parchment paper https://amzn.to/3U1ZvFw

• nonstick pizza wheel https://amzn.to/3h98dTW

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ButterYum's Pizza Dough

makes one 12-inch pie
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water, 110-115F

Directions

To Make Dough in a Bread Machine:  

1. Add the ingredients to your bread machine following the manufacturer's instructions.

2. Process using the pizza dough cycle.

To Make Dough in a Stand Mixer:  

1. Combine water, sugar, and yeast; proof yeast mixture for 5 minutes.

2. Put dry ingredients into mixer fitted with a dough hook; add yeast mixture and olive oil.

3. Mix on low until ingredients are moistened.

4. Increase mixer to speed 2 and knead for 5-10 minutes.

To Make Dough in a Food Processor:  

1. Combine water, sugar, and yeast; proof yeast mixture for 5 minutes.

2. Put dry ingredients into food processor fitting with either the dough blade or metal chopping blade; add yeast mixture and olive oil.

3. Process ingredients until a ball of dough forms.

4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes.

To Prebake Crust and Prepare Pizza:  

1. Once the dough is kneaded, place dough in an oiled bowl and allow it to rise until it doubles in size; 30-60 minutes (this is a good time to preheat your oven and pizza stone to 475F).

2. Place risen dough onto parchment paper and press into a 12-inch circle.

3. Dock dough with a fork.

4. Prebake crust for 7-10 minutes.

5. Brush crust edges with oil; add sauce and toppings.

6. Return to oven to bake an additional 7-10 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and brush edges with oil again; lightly sprinkle oiled edges with garlic salt.

Notes

• I sometimes use garlic oil and salt in place of olive oil and garlic salt (Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt is another favorite).  

• Also, the unbaked dough will stick well to the parchment paper until the prebaking is complete, then you don't need it anymore and you can easily remove the parchment. Enjoy!

• Have someone with special dietary needs in mind?  Check out my Keto-Friendly Pizza Crust!  

No-Carb, No Cauliflower, High Protein, Gluten-Free, Keto-Friendly Pizza Crust