Posted on 03/16/2017 4:00:27 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
In recent years the pineapple has superseded peaches to become my favorite fruit – perhaps partly because it’s so much easier to find very good pineapples in my area. But getting at the fruit inside a pineapple is a real project!
I’ve often been tempted to buy one of those pineapple-coring gadgets, but I always turned it down – I thought it would be hard for my small hands to use, and it seemed like the kind of ‘unitasker’ (channeling Alton Brown, here) that would take up space and hardly be used.
A few weeks ago, I saw one of them on the half-price rack at the grocery store, in perfect condition except that the packaging had been damaged; so I gave in and scooped it up, still thinking that I'd probably have to enlist the Husband Unit's man-hands, to make it work.
But this thing is amazing! It isn’t hard to use at all, even for my small and not very strong hands; and it does exactly what it’s supposed to do. There are a lot of them out there, but the one I purchased is from Farberware. When I think back to all my ugly, butchered pineapples, I wish I had gotten this gizmo sooner. (And when it’s all done, you have a nice hollow pineapple to use for a centerpiece "vase".)
Pineapple is especially nice as a snack when dehydrated – it doesn’t require pre-treatment, and the corer does a very good job of making uniform slices that will dry evenly (if you don't have a dehydrator, this link also includes directions for drying in the oven):
http://www.ehow.com/how_4792892_dehydrate-pineapple.html
And of course, there’s the beloved of many, Pineapple Upside Down Cake:
Another use for pineapple that I’ve always liked, is Carrot-Raisin-Pineapple Salad, which is usually made with mayonnaise; but I first made it while low-fat dieting many years ago, and still prefer it with yogurt, instead:
http://www.food.com/recipe/no-fat-carrot-raisin-salad-68514
-JT
If you have very good knife skills, you can get more of the edible pineapple with a good knife - the corer results in about one-eighth to one-quarter inch left inside the skin. But it’s a tedious job, and I’m not good enough with knives to do it quickly and efficiently. I like the gadget ;-)
A little off topic. I saw a commercial on the telly a while back touting the benefits of corn oil. They claimed it was healthier than olive oil. Has anyone else seen this and what do you think? I only seen it once.
I love pineapple! I try to eat a lot of fresh pineapple because it has bromelain, that helps with inflammation. And it’s yummy! But I rarely cook with it.
Interesting!
I seem to remember a film we saw back in school, about a pineapple processing plant in Hawaii - and they had pineapple juice running through the drinking fountains. I thought that was so neat!
Dang I lived on Good Housekeeping 1960ish's Hamburger Stroganoff recipe in college. One of my favorite comfort foods.
Fry a lb. of hamburger with some onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Then fry a 1/2 lb of mushrooms. Mix it together. Add a can of mushroom soup. Simmer for awhile. Before serving add maybe a 1/2 cp. or more of sour cream. And maybe some dill, parsley or chive.
I love this stuff.
If you want to freeze it, add the sour cream after the defrost. Easy and soo cheap.
Other college comfort food ...pressure cooker and bean burrito.
My husband loves this Southern version of pineapple upside down cake with rum:
http://gardenandgun.com/recipe/pineapple-upside-down-cornmeal-cake/
Oh, that looks wonderful - I like anything flavored with Rum.
(Especially Rum Raisin Ice Cream!)
I have a new infatuation with barley. So I found a hamburger stroganoff recipe that you add the Barley to and just mix it all together. It’s really good
That’s very little waste!
Also, the thing that makes carrot cake and zucchini bread so good in my opinion is the crushed pineapple! In fact I wonder if I could just make a pineapple bread or pineapple cake. I really do love the stuff but don’t know very many recipes that use pineapple.
A drink for pineapple lovers..
I find this simple recipe very satisfying.
Cut pineapple chunks and lay them on a cookie sheet. Freeze until hard. You can store any remaining chunks in the freezer in a plastic bag.
In a blender, put a cup or so of frozen chunks with some coconut milk. Get the blender going and add enough coconut milk to make a pour-able frozen drink. Enjoy!
In addition to pineapple, I’ve used orange, melon, berries and bananas. You can also use real milk or almond milk.
Here’s that old potluck standby, the pineapple cottage cheese Jell-O salad:
1 lb cottage cheese
1 (3 ounce) box any flavor jell-o gelatin powder
1 cup whipped topping
1 (4 ounce) cancrushed pineapple, well drained
Mix together in order given.
Chill for 2 hours.
My very favorite and incredibly simple recipe:
8 oz cream cheese softened
1/2 c finely chopped pineapple
1/4 c pecans toasted and finely chopped
Mix together and spread into several celery ribs. Chill, slice into desired lengths and add to your next cruditte platter.
Better yet, serve as a dip with afforementioned cruditte platter.
Not a pine..
Not an apple...
What’s up with that??
That looks good, and I think it would work as an occasional treat for my husband’s ‘paleo’ diet.
Here’s another cake recipe I collected somewhere. It uses crushed pineapple & sounds wonderful. Somehow I never end up making the recipes I collect...
Pineapple Pound Cake
• 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, un-drained, divided
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Put 3/4 cup of un-drained pineapple with its juice in a small bowl; set aside. Drain remaining pineapple and measure 1 cup of drained crushed pineapple; set aside.
Cream shortening, butter, and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Sift flour and baking powder together; add to creamed mixture, 1 large spoonful at a time, alternately with milk. Add vanilla; stir in 3/4 cup un-drained pineapple with juice and blend well.
Pour batter into a well greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Place in cold oven. Turn oven to 325° and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until top springs back when touched lightly with finger. Let pineapple pound cake stand for few minutes in pan. Run knife around edges to loosen and remove pineapple cake carefully to a rack.
Glaze: Combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, and about 1 cup drained pineapple. Pour pineapple sauce over cake while still hot.
I don’t know what they call it in the native languages of the countries it comes from; but we probably named it Pineapple because it resembles a pine cone; and many fruits have been named ‘apple’ by Europeans - the word ‘pomme’ in Old French, originally simply meant ‘Fruit’.
Potatoes are ‘pommes de terre’, or ‘earth apples’; and ‘pomme d’amour’, is the tomato -’love apple’.
Pineapple slush looks outstanding. To up the health benefits you could use vanilla Greek yogurt instead of ice cream. Either way, yum/
Though not the healthiest, this makes a delicious appetizer and when push comes to shove, even dessert~
BACON WRAPPED PINEAPPLE CHUNKS
http://www.mamalovesfood.com/2015/03/bacon-wrapped-pineapple-bites.html
The recipe originally found in the Huffington Post, but they give credit to MAMA LOVES FOOD. We dismissed the bar b q sauce, chili sauce and grape jelly, and instead dusted the raw bacon strips with brown sugar and a bit of cayenne pepper before wrapping the pineapple. Once wrapped, we rolled them once again in the sugar/pepper mixture. Also, no fresh fruit around - solution drained pineapple chunks. Candied bacon, with a bit of a citrus zing. Nothing could be better.
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