Cocoplum Nut Butter? (Yes, I know it's a seed.)

www.distinctlyflorida.com

In my ongoing quest to be the George Washington Carver of cocoplums, I decided I'd make cocoplum nut butter. Of course, I wanted it to be healthful so I used what I thought were healthful ingredients: light olive oil, light salt, honey and my fresh picked and hulled cocoplum seeds. Hulling the seeds is the most time consuming and tedious part of this recipe so I would suggest you do it while watching something entertaining like FLORIDA CRACKERS. (Ha, ha. Get it? Crackers. Cracking the hulls... Then you spread the nut butter on crackers and... Oh... Never mind.)

I treated the cocoplum seeds exactly as though they were peanuts and used a recipe for peanut butter: 

15 oz. of nuts

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons honey

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

(my second batch was made with regular sugar and coconut oil and tasted better)

Blend until it reaches the consistency you prefer. Taste and adjust to your liking. This has a very distinctive, strong flavor and I liked it. I am certain, however, that this will prove to be the kind of nut butter that people either like or hate. My second batch was made with coconut oil and tasted better, but I wanted to share the process of my experiment with you. You could try other oils; try it without sugar; try it with added spices. I'm imagining something along the lines of tahini sauce (made from sesame seeds). I'm not a chef but I hope someone out there who wants to make a name for him /her self starts to experiment with this. Come on. Let's get the ball rolling.

The cocoplum nut butter is really good on crackers and would make unusual and savory hors d'oeuvres.

A sophisticated, grown-up Florida version of peanut butter and jelly, this cocoplum nut butter and cocoplum jam is the ultimate in taste and distinction. Wow.

Using the nut butter the way I would peanut butter, I made these cocoplum nut butter thumbprint cookies. The recipe will be in an upcoming post.

Wherefore Art Thou, Floride?

Florida has a strong auto racing history.  Daytona, Sebring, Homestead-Miami, St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay all hold major racing events. In fact, Florida is host to more top-level racing than any state in the nation. Automakers pay homage by naming cars for Daytona and for Sebring. It should not be surprising to discover cars named for our state. Still, considering our history, you might wonder why there aren’t more. The following story could have part of the answer.

In 1959, a car named for Florida was introduced but most Americans would not know it by that name.  It was the Renault Floride, a sport model built on the Dauphine platform, designed expressly for the American market and immediately popular here.  But, as Sports Car Graphic reported in October 1959, the name was quickly changed.

“Dealer reaction to the car was wholly favorable except for one contingent from California that asked, ‘Why Floride? That’s only one state among [at that time] 48. We like the car but does it have to have that name?’

“Renault officials looked upon this as a serious matter. ‘After all, California took a large percentage of Dauphines and if sales were to suffer due to statehood pride we had better have some discussions about it.’ They did, and during the last course of dinner on the Bateau Mouche, as it made its way down the Seine River, asked for a show of hands to three different names that had been nominated. A resounding cheer went up for the name, ‘Caravelle,’ and although no promises were made the California group went home fairly secure in the thought the Floride would have a new name.

“Now the car is ready for the public – and with the new name for the United States market. In France, it will still be known as the Floride.”

The Floride / Caravelle became the flagship of the Renault line and remained in production through 1967.

Did Florida racing start with something more exotic? :-)

Racing Ostrich postcard pillow