Why I always keep a can of coconut milk in my refrigerator...
Coconut milk plays a huge roll in Paleo cooking.
Often you will see recipes that call for coconut cream from a can of coconut milk that has been refrigerated. This is the case in a lot of sweet Paleo dishes because coconut cream whips up very much like heavy whipping cream in traditional recipes. I use it in my cinnamon coconut whipped cream recipe. However, coconut cream can also be used in savory dishes. I have a recipe coming soon for a peppered creamy mushroom sauce that will be using coconut cream as well.
The reason I always keep a can of coconut milk in my refrigerator is simple...I don't want to have to wait on it when I'm ready to use it. Early in my Paleo cooking, I would plan ahead & put the can in the refrigerator for 24 hours in advance in order for the cream to separate from the water, however now I cook so much & so spontaneously I simply don't have time to wait on this process. I also realized, that while leaving a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator for 24 hours will do the trick, leaving it in there longer makes it a much simpler process to scoop out the cream & I am guaranteed that the cream will have separated. A can of refrigerated coconut milk will yield about 1 cup of coconut cream.
Just remember, the coconut milk must be full fat in order for this separation to work properly.