Pineapples everyday!

River Cottage: Fruit everyday!  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 2013 London

I'm having a wonderful time discovering new flavor combinations with this book – thanks Julia!! Despite Hugh describing pineapples as . . . “TROPICAL KITSCH” !!!

I may have varied the recipes slightly due to availability in our little country town . . . but everything was just delicious and is highly recommended, Anne

In context . . . “Saving the most flamboyant tropical treat of all for last, we arrive at the pineapple. Tropical kitsch they may be – think Carmen Miranda’s hat – but they are no less delicious for that.”  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 

For sale on etsy!!!

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Pineapple, cheddar and radicchio salad

Serves 2 as a lunch, 3 – 4 as a side dish

¼ - ½ large ripe pineapple, peeled (about 300g peeled weight); 1 radicchio or 2 heads of white chicory; 1 tblspn extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to trickle; 100g crumbly, nutty, mature Cheddar; juice of 1 lemon; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Thinly slice the pineapple, remove the core and cut into bite-sized pieces. Put these into a large bowl.

Trim the radicchio or chicory and shred the leaves fairly coarsely. Add to the pineapple. Add 1 tblspn extra virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper and toss together thoroughly. Arrange over a serving plate or divide between individual bowls.

 

Slice the cheese thinly, or shave with a potato peeler, then tear or break each slice into flakes, scattering them evenly over the pineapple and radicchio. Squeeze over the lemon juice, give the salad another trickle of olive oil and another grinding of black pepper, and serve.

Barbecued pineapple

“Some fruits have an amazing affinity with the grill, and pineapple is definitely one of them.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 

Serves 4

1 pineapple, about 1.5kg

For the dry marinade: 2 tspn fennel seeds; a pinch of dried chili flakes; 2 tspn demerara sugar; 1 tspn coriander seeds; finely grated zest of 1 lime

To serve: lime juice; shredded mint

 

For the dry marinade, grind all the ingredients together as finely as you can using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder.

Cut the top and base off the pineapple, then stand it on a board and slice off the skin. Turn the fruit on its side and cut into 1 – 1.5 cm thick slices (2 per person). Lay these on a plate and scatter with the dry marinade, patting it on so each piece is well coated. Leave for about 30 minutes (after which time, the pineapple will taste pretty amazing already, before you even get around to grilling it.)

Working in batches, cook the pineapple on the barbecue or in the pan, turning each slice from time to time to get plenty of colour on each side – this can take up to 12 minutes. Transfer to a large plate.

Finish off with a squeeze of lime juice and some shredded mint. I like to serve something creamy on the side, such as ice cream, crème fraiche, yoghurt or the chilled coconut rice pudding (see below). The spiced pineapple goes well with meat too, in a savoury context.

 

The BLP

 

 

“If you think it sounds odd to augment a bacon sarnie with pineapple, think again. Bacon goes with tomato – a fragrant, sweet-tart fruit – so it should work with a tropical candidate too. And gammon and pineapple is a tried and trusted pairing. A couple of crisp, delicately bitter leaves and a smudge of mustard give the perfect edge to the salty-sweet combination.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 

Per person: A trickle of sunflower oil; 2 – 3 rashers of good bacon (back or streaky, smoked or unsmoked, as you prefer); 2 slices of good white bread; butter, for spreading; a little of your favourite mustard; 1 – 2 slices of peeled ripe pineapple, 1.5 – 2cm thick; a couple of radicchio, chicory or romaine lettuce leaves; freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the bacon rashers and fry, turning once or twice, until done to your liking. Butter one piece of bread and put the hot bacon on it.

 

Rub the second piece of bread around the frying pan to absorb some of the bacon fat, then spread it with a little mustard.

 

Add the pineapple to the hot pan and fry for a couple of minutes each side, until golden and hot.

Put the hot pineapple on top of the bacon and give it a few twists of pepper. Add the salad leaves and top with the mustardy piece of bread. Leave it a minute or two for the pineapple to cool a little, then tuck in.

Variation: For a more substantial, main meal dish based on the pork and pineapple combo: fry a pork chop, then sear a couple of slices of pineapple in the fat left in the pan. Use a splash of cider, white wine or just plain water to deglaze the pan. Combine these pan juices with a little mustard, olive oil and salt and pepper to make a simple warm dressing for some salad leaves to serve alongside.

 

 

 

 

Coconut rice pudding with rum pineapple

“This is basically a pina colada pud: good old rice pudding given a makeover and taken for a night out on the town.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 

Serves 6

80g pudding rice; 2 X 400ml tins coconut milk; 200ml whole milk; 60g caster sugar; ½ vanilla pod (optional); For the rum-macerated pineapple – 500g peeled ripe pineapple; 4 tblspn dark rum; 2 tblspn soft dark brown sugar

 

Rinse the pudding rice in a sieve under a running cold tap.

Pour the coconut milk and whole milk into a large saucepan and add the sugar. Snip the vanilla pod, if using, into a few pieces and add these to the pan. Bring slowly to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar and amalgamate the coconut milk

Add the rice and cook gently over a very low heat., barely allowing it to simmer and stirring often, until the rice is swollen and tender and the mixture has the texture of a very loose risotto. This should take about 45 minutes. It will thicken more as it cools.

Remove the pieces of vanilla pod, if using. Transfer the rice pudding to a dish and leave to cool completely, stirring it now and then to prevent a skin forming. When cold, cover and chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

Meanwhile, cut the pineapple into bite-sized chunks, discarding the core. Combine the pineapple, rum and brown sugar in a bowl, cover and leave to macerate in the fridge until ready to serve.

Serve the rice pudding in bowls with a generous spoonful of the pineapple and its rummy juices.

 

 

Melon and pineapple with ginger

“Fresh root ginger gives a lovely heat to this juicy salad. Make sure you use ripe, fragrant pineapple and melon – Galia and Charentais are particularly fine melon varieties.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Serves 4

500g ripe melon (about ½ medium Galia or Charentais); 500g ripe, peeled pineapple flesh (from 1 medium pineapple); a large piece of ginger (about 75g); finely grated zest and juice of 1 small and ½ large orange

Remove the seeds from the melon. Cut the flesh into slices, then into bite-sized pieces, cutting away the skin as you go.

Cut the pineapple flesh across into slices, about 1cm thick. Quarter the slices and remove the core and any remnants of ‘eyes’ from the outside. Cut the pineapple into bite-sized pieces.

Grate the ginger finely, then extract the juice from it. You can do this by simply squeezing the pulp in your hands over a bowl. Alternately, grate the ginger into a fine sieve and press with a spoon to extract the juice into the bowl. Either way, you need about 25ml ginger juice.

Divide the melon and pineapple between individual bowls and toss to combine. Stir the orange zest and juice into the ginger juice. Trickle this zingy dressing over the fruit and serve straight away.

Fried fish with pineapple salsa

 

“Inspired by a memorable dish I once ate in a beach café in Thailand, this fresh and fruity salsa is exquisite with a whole fish that’s been rubbed with aromatics and soy and fried until crisp. The saltiness of the soy and pungency of the garlic and ginger combine beautifully with the flavours of the salsa. You do need a pretty large frying pan to tackle a whole fish. If that daunts you, the salsa is also delicious with a grilled, barbecued or baked fish (see the variation below).” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 

Serves 2

 

1 gurnard, black bream, sea bass, grey mullet, or trout (about 1kg), or 2 smaller fish, gutted and descaled; 2 garlic cloves, grated; a thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated; a dash of soy sauce; a few bay leaves; 2 tblspn sunflower oil; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

For the salsa: 200g peeled and cored ripe pineapple; ½ small garlic clove, very finely chopped; ½ medium-hot red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped; finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus a spritz of juice; 1 tblspn chopped coriander

 

To make the salsa, cut the pineapple flesh into roughly 5mm chunks. Combine with the garlic, chilli, lime zest, a squeeze of lime juice and the coriander. Taste and add salt and pepper, plus a little more lime juice if needed. Cover and set aside, while you cook the fish.

 

Make several diagonal slashes on both sides of the fish, without going right through to the bone. Mix the garlic and ginger with enough soy sauce to make a wet paste. Rub this over the fish, working it into the slashes and the belly cavity. Tuck a bay leaf into a few of the slashes. Season the fish with salt and pepper.

 

Heat the sunflower oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the fish and fry for 5 – 6 minutes each side, until cooked through to the bone, turning the heat up towards the end to help crisp the skin.

 

Serve the fried fish straight away with the pineapple salsa, some plain boiled rice and steamed greens.

 

Variation: To oven-cook your fish, preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas5. Slash the fish, rub in the aromatic flavouring paste and season, as above. Place in an oiled baking dish and trickle over a little more oil. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until the fish is cooked through.