Florida Ambrosia Salad

Ingredients

• 0.5 cup apple juice unsweetened
• 1  coconut or 
• 3  grapefruit white
• 1 pint kumquats 
• 3  navel oranges 
• 1  pineapple cored peeled cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 0.5 cup pomegranate seeds 

Equipment

• bowl
• oven
• knife
• peeler
• serrated knife
• metal skewers
• cleaver

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Pierce the softest eye of the coconut with a metal skewer or small screwdriver and drain any liquid into a small bowl to sample—you should have about 1/2 cup liquid. (If the liquid tastes sweet, the coconut is fresh; if it tastes oily, the coconut is rancid and should be discarded.)
3. Bake the coconut for 15 minutes then transfer to a folded towel on a work surface. Using the back of a knife or a cleaver, crack the shell open. Break the shell into large pieces and use a strong knife to carefully remove the flesh from the shell. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the brown skin then shave the coconut into thin strips—you should have about 4 cups shaved coconut. Reserve 2 cups for the ambrosia salad; wrap and freeze the remainder for another use. DO AHEAD: Coconut shavings can stored, in an airtight container, in the refrigerator up to 1 week or frozen up to 3 months.
4. Using a serrated knife, cut the peel off the grapefruits and oranges.
5. Cut the fruit crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds then cut the rounds into bite-size pieces.
6. Transfer to a large bowl; add the pineapple, kumquats, pomegranate seeds, 2 cups coconut shavings, 1/2 cup coconut juice, and the apple juice, and toss gently to combine.
7. Serve at room temperature or chilled. DO AHEAD: Florida Ambrosia Salad can be prepared ahead and stored, covered, in the refrigerator up to 8 hours.