Six Pineapples Later
Five home chefs come together
to create delicious South African pineapple dishes

By: Bobbie Kitto
Recipes Included: Janet’s Chocolate Covered Pineapple Balls, Bobbie’s Pineapple  Jalapeno  Cream Cheese Spread, Michele’s Pineapple Drink, Laura’s Pineapple Chicken

UPS brought a delightful surprise: a spectacular gift basket from Melissa’s Produce, featuring the most adorable baby pineapples straight from South Africa. Besides being called South African Baby Pineapples, these little cuties are also known as Queen Victoria Pineapples. Note their regal headpieces making each look like a little monarch on their own.

Their flavor is rich and bold with the flesh being sweet and juicy. This fruit is entirely edible so the core does not have to be removed before using in a recipe or just slicing and eating. With this gift basket Melissa’s included a little brochure giving directions on how to prepare the pineapple for maximum enjoyment of it plus a few easy recipes.

Now armed with the fruit and some inside knowledge from Melissa’s, without hesitation, I called on my neighborhood’s most daring home chefs. Four eagerly accepted the challenge to create unique recipes starring these charming little fruits for our upcoming gathering.

With the pineapple’s shelf life limited to just five days in the fridge, time was tight. We scheduled our tasting a week after delivery—meaning a weeknight event, unusual for us. The busy holiday season meant only five of us could join, but that didn’t stop the evening from bursting with delicious and unexpected dishes.

The night arrived and to start us off, Michele made our night’s libation. The drink was made from one of the baby pineapples juiced, a can of Mountain Dew Blast Zero, ½ cup Malibu Rum, Tajin, and ice. Libations, in hand we headed for the buffet.

My cream cheese and pineapple dip was complimented by some highly seasoned crackers.  The dip highlighted the pineapple by using one whole baby pineapple with an 8 oz. block of cream cheese. Mixed into the dip was crumbled bacon bites and about a third of a jalapeno pepper chopped very fine.  I let it season in the fridge the night before. The contrast of ingredients in dip with the zesty crackers, was well received.

Next item we tested was brought by Laura. She made the main dish of Hawaiian Chicken.  The pineapple added such a tropical taste to the chicken and since I had none left after the party, I would say it was very popular.

To round out our tasting we had two very special desserts. One was candied pineapple and the other was chocolate dipped pineapple. These two were supplied by Michele and Janet. Both cooks really thought out of the box for these desserts. As great as they looked and tasted, the recipes were not complicated but would require a little time management since they couldn’t be made just before a party, but definitely worth the time and effort.

While sitting around the table and enjoying our efforts, we all agreed we have enjoyed exercising our culinary talents by the gift boxes we’ve been sent

from Melissa’s Produce. Each time, Robert (the PR Rep) from Melissa’s has given us a stimulating challenge to try something out of our comfort zone. These South African Baby Pineapples were certainly one of the most enjoyable. Enjoy the recipes below.

Michele’s Pineapple Drink

1 mini pineapple (peeled and juiced (reserve some to dip the glass rims)

1 can Mountain Dew Blast Zero

½ cup Malibu Pineapple rum

Tajin

Ice

Mix first 3 ingredients in a pitcher.

In a separate bowl pour reserved pineapple juice and on a separate plate sprinkle some Tajin.

Dip glass in pineapple juice. Dip in the Tajin. Add ice to glass and pour drink mixture into glass. Garnish with lime, lemon or pineapples.

BOBBIE’S PINEAPPLE JALEPENO CREAM CHEESE SPREAD

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese (softened)

1 small South African pineapple (about a cup chopped up)

1/3 small jalapeno chopped into very small pieces

½ cup of real bacon bits (I use Member’s Mark from Sam’s Club)

1/8 to ¼ tsp of Melissa’s Hatch Pepper Seasonings

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate 4 hrs. – Overnight.

Serve with seasoned crackers.

SEASONED CRACKERS

• 1 gallon clean glass jar with lid
• 1 cup to 1 ½ cups of neutral liquid oil
• 1 oz. pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning dressing & recipe mix*
• I box of saltine crackers or Ritz crackers

Pack the glass jar as full as possible with the crackers.

Mix the seasoning package and oil together and then pour all over the crackers. Put the lid on the jar. Turn the jar upside down. Let the jar stay upside down for a few hours. Then turn on side and roll the jar several times on it’s side. Set the jar right-side up and let it set for a few hours. Each time you go by the jar, roll it on its side a few times. Then set the jar right side up or upside down to let the oil fall to the bottom of jar. Next time set the jar opposite from before after rolling it a few times. This should be done for 2-4 days. The longer you roll them the more seasoned crackers will become.

You may use any variety of the seasoning packs. I like the Garlic Ranch and the Jalapeno Ranch mix.

Another seasoning option is to use the oil with 2-3 tabs of red pepper flakes. This can be really hot to the taste but great with cream cheese.  I used 2 tbs. of the red pepper flakes and it was spicy enough for most people.

Laura’s Pineapple Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken 3-4 lbs. (Drumsticks, wings, + Thigh pieces work great!)

1-2 TBSP of Homemade Jerk Dry Rub Seasonings (or Lawry’s Jerk seasonings)

*Pineapple Jerk Sauce

3 scotch bonnet peppers

½ red onion chopped

4 garlic cloves

Handful of green onions or scallions

2 TBSP white vinegar

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 TBSP. minced fresh ginger

½ cup pineapple chunks

¼ cup soy sauce (low-sodium)

¼ cup water

2 TBSP brown sugar pimento

1 carrot peeled and chopped

2 TBSP pimento seeds

Garnish:

Pineapple chunks

BBQ sauce (It can be homemade BBQ)

Fresh thyme springs

Chopped scallion (aka green onions)

Lime wedges (optional)

Instructions:

Marinate the Chicken:

In a large bowl, add your freshly cleaned + rinsed chicken along with the jerk seasoning, mixing everything together until chicken is fully coated. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. (Note for best results marinate chicken overnight in the refrigerator.)

Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit and lightly grease a standard 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Set aside.

MAKE THE PINEAPPLE JERK SAUCE:

In a high speed blender put ingredients for Pineapple Jerk sauce and blend until smooth and combined.

Combine the Jerk sauce and chicken and massage together until all chicken pieces are coated in sauce.

Place chicken in baking dish spreading them out side by side, and tightly cover top with foil paper.

Bake 40-50 minutes or until chicken is mostly cooked through.

Carefully, drain the jerk sauce “liquid” from chicken into a bowl and set aside. Return the chicken back to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.

Serve chicken with reserved sauce

Janet’s Chocolate Covered Pineapple Balls 

1. Refrigerate pineapple until firm
2. Cut pineapple in half.
3. Using a melon baller, create small pineapple balls.
4. Place pineapple balls on parchment paper lined tray and freeze

For it for 1 hour. Optional step is to soak in rum before freezing 2 or more hours.

5. Take your preferred semi-sweet chocolate ( I like Lilly’s) and pour about a cup or less, depending on how many pineapple balls and size you are going to coat with the chocolate, into a microwaveable glass bowl along with a teaspoon or so of coconut oil. Microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time until the chocolate is just soft and melted. Stir with a spoon after each 30 seconds to prevent scorching.
6. Remove pineapple from freezer and roll in powdered sugar.
7. Place on a parchment lined tray and pour or dip into chocolate

To cover each pineapple ball.

8. Refrigerate chocolate covered pineapple balls about 15 minutes.
9. Place in cored out pineapple halves. Drizzle the remaining melted chocolate over and dust lightly with powdered sugar. Serve and enjoy!# # #
   

   Review by Bobbie Kitto
   Edited by Linda Kissam
   

   

   Note: Roberta (Bobbie) Kitto is a freelance writer based out of Laughlin, NV. Her interests include travel, culinary pursuits and gardening. No fee was paid for this article review. Her opinions are her own.

   To make the best of each recipe, use for quality ingredients! Bobbie  highly recommends products from Melissa’s.