Pineapples in Paradise

One of the many great things about living where I do is the plethora of tropical fruits that can be grown around here.  I've talked about mango and mamey of course.  When the time and the fruit is ripe, there will be posts about fresh-off-the-tree oranges, tangerines, key limes, grapefruit and carambola (starfruit) among others.

This week it's pineapple.  Lady Sally has eight or a dozen pineapple "bushes" around her property and gets at least one pineapple a year.  It takes at least 2 years before a bush will produce, and then it won't set fruit every year.  

This year, apparently because of a wet winter, we've had a lousy mango harvest all over SW Florida.  A number of commercial mango growers aren't even harvesting this year, as they figure they won't be able to make a profit after paying labor, shipping, marketing, etc, etc.  

But -- at least for us, it's a bumper season for pineapple.  Five plants set and ripened fruit.  One broke off its stem during a downpour over the 4th of July, but was rescued as a totally green fruit.  While searching how to ripen it, I discovered that green pineapple is somewhat toxic.  I also discovered that to ripen a green pineapple  you do not use a brown paper bag the way you do for mangoes and other soft fruit.  Instead you turn it upside down, and wait:

A whole new meaning for Pineapple Upside Down...

Within a few days to a week, the sugars will flow from the base throughout the fruit, ripening it.

Hmmm.  I harvested the last couple mangoes from the tree.  And I've got ripe pineapple.  What to do... what to do?   (play Jimmy Buffet's Last Mango in Paris while reading the rest of this post).    

Pineapple-Mango Buckle
This is recipe from Martha Stewart, who we know can't spell buckle let alone bake one -- her staff does all the work and she takes all the credit and money.  Regardless, the recipe is darn tasty!.  Of course, if you don't live in Paradise, you can make this with megamart pineapples and mangos -- just don't use that canned nonsense!

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted Butter, room temperature

1 small Pineapple

2 ripe Mangoes

2 Eggs

2 tablespoons dark-brown Sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons AP Flour

1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 2-quart baking dish (8x8 or 9x9 glass is good) with non-stick. 

Peel, pit and dice the mangoes.  Cut the top and bottom off the pineapple, and slice the skin off the sides. Anyone who wastes the tasty core of a fresh pineapple (throws it away) is no friend of mine!  Cut the whole thing into 1/2" cubes.

Toss the pineapple, mangoes, and brown sugar together in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.

Cream the butter and granulated sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add the flour mixture; stir (don't beat) until just combined. Measure out 1 cup of the fruit mixture; fold the rest of the fruit into batter.

Spread the batter in the baking dish. Bake 30 minutes. Top with the reserved fruit. Bake again until golden on top and a cake tester comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes total. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Pineapple Mango Buckle

Why buckle?  I still don't know.  But this dessert belongs to the family of goodies called crumbles, grumbles, cobblers, etc. which combine a simple cake batter and fruit.  A buckle is distinguished by most of the fruit being folded into the batter before baking, then additional fruit is added as topping part way through the baking process.

Mojo Pork

Sally's Mum had a hankering for pork tenderloin for our alternating Sunday lunch date, so before we went face down in the dessert Buckle, I served up Mojo Pork with roasted baby potatoes and green peas.  I prefer the Badiatm brand Mojo sauce, a mix of citrus juices, garlic and spices.  I put about a 1/4" of Mojo in the electric skillet, added some spices to the tenderloin, covered and cooked it at 250F for an hour a pound to perfect tenderness.

Mojo Pork Tenderloin

Bonus Recipe - Handmade Applesauce
"Applesauce" was requested to go along with the pork.  Rather than just buy a jar, of course I had to make it.  I used two nice, flavorful apples (Kiku if I remember right) not Granny Smiths or the mis-named and flavorless modern Red Delicious.  Chopped up fine, with the skin on.  Just a tablespoon of added brown sugar, and about a 1/2 cup of water.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer about 20 minutes until soft.  Mash the resulting cooked fruit, but don't puree it: