Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs

Adapted from https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/recipes/sweet-and-sour-chicken-meatballs

440g can pineapple pieces in natural juice; 1 tbs cornflour; 1 small green capsicum, deseeded, finely chopped; 1  small red capsicum, deseeded, finely chopped; 3 cm piece ginger, grated; 1 tbs tomato sauce; 2 tbs white wine vinegar; 1 tbs soy sauce; 2 tbs oil; 1 cup panko breadcrumbs; 500g chicken mince; 1 tbs brown sugar; 2 cups rice, steamed (to serve)

Combine mince and breadcrumbs in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Roll mixture into balls and place on a large plate.

Heat oil in a large, deep frypan over medium heat. Add meatballs and cook, in batches, for 6 minutes, shaking pan often, until meatballs are evenly browned. Transfer to a plate.

In a large saucepan combine pineapple pieces with juice, capsicum, vinegar, cornflour, sugar, sauces and ginger, stir. Bring to the boil over medium heat. Return meatballs to pan. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through and sauce has thickened. Serve with rice.

Pineapple Cream Cheese Cobbler

Adapted from the Food Yummy facebook page                                    

Breakfast in the garden, but not quite cooked enough ... had to be patient ... and put it back in the oven
                                        

A difficult dish to photograph but very delicious 

For the cobbler base: ½ cup (1 stick / 113g) unsalted butter, melted; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1 cup granulated sugar; 2 tsp baking powder; pinch of salt; 1 cup milk (whole milk preferred); 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling: 1 can (20 oz / 565g) crushed pineapple in juice (NOT drained); 120g (4 oz) cream cheese, cut into small cubes; ¼ cup brown sugar (for topping); optional: ½ tsp cinnamon or nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Prepare the pan: Pour the melted butter into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Do not stir — the butter forms the base layer.

Mix the batter: In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Pour this batter evenly over the melted butter. Do not stir — the batter will rise up around the filling as it bakes.

Add the filling: Spoon the crushed pineapple (with juice) evenly over the batter. Scatter the cream cheese cubes across the top. Sprinkle with brown sugar and optional cinnamon/nutmeg.

Bake for 40–45 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly around the edges. The top should be golden and slightly crisp, with gooey pineapple and cream cheese underneath.

Cool slightly before serving: Serve warm, ideally with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Option: Make it mini: Bake in ramekins for individual cobblers — reduce baking time slightly.

Pineapple hedgehog

1 pineapple; 150g cheddar, cut into cubes; 60g cabanossi, cut into ten 2.5cm pieces; cubes of pineapple; 8 mini tomatoes, halved; olives; grapes; pickled onions; anything else you fancy; your favourite dip or just sweet chilli cream cheese

Use a sharp knife to cut the top off the pineapple, scoop out fruit.

Thread cubes of cheese and your other decorative ingredients onto toothpicks and poke them around the sides of the pineapple.

Place the pineapple on a serving plate. Spoon the dip into the centre to serve. Time to party!

Sometimes these are called sputniks. Play with different possibilities! Anne

Thai-style noodles with cashews & pineapple

Adapted from China Study Cookbook 2017 USA according to the ingredients I already had. It was delicious. I love the curry/pineapple combo, Anne

Serves 4-6

450g whole grain linguine; 2 tblsp arrowroot powder; 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth; 1 ½ cups canned lite coconut milk; 3 tblsp tamari, to taste; 1 tblsp Thai red curry paste; 1 tblsp curry powder; grated zest & juice 1 lime; 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes; 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced; 1 red bell pepper, seeded & cut into 3 cm squares; 3 cups sliced bok choy; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped fresh pineapple; ½ cup toasted cashews for garnish; ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil for garnish; ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro for garnish; 3 tblsp finely chopped fresh mint for garnish

Cook the whole grain linguine according to the package instructions, then drain & rinse under cold water until cool. Set aside.

While the linguine is cooking, in a medium bowl whisk the arrowroot powder into the vegetable broth. Whisk in the coconut milk, tamari, curry paste & curry powder, lime zest & juice, & red pepper flakes. Set aside.

Sauté the onion & bell pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until the onion turns translucent & starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add water 1 to 2 tblsp at a time to keep the vegetables from sticking. Add the bok choy & garlic & cook for another minute.

Stir in the red curry paste mixture, pineapple & cooked linguine, & cook until heated through. Serve, garnished with cashews & chopped fresh herbs.

 

Pineapple Kiwi Soda

Adapted from The GREAT Savor PH facebook page

Ingredients

½ cup fresh pineapple, chopped; 1 kiwi, peeled and coarsely chopped; 4 tbsp sugar; 1 medium lime, juiced; ice cubes; cold sparkling water

Instructions

In a blender, combine the pineapple, kiwi, sugar, and lime juice. Blend until smooth.

Fill a glass with ice cubes. Pour half of the fruit syrup into the glass, then top with cold sparkling water.

Stir gently to mix. Serve immediately, optionally garnished with a slice of kiwi or pineapple on the rim.

Pineapple Butternut Crumble

Adapted from https://www.cookist.com/butternut-pineapple-crumble/

Ingredients

1 medium butternut pumpkin peeled & cubed; 1 can (250g/8 ounces) unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained;  1 carton (250g/8 ounces) spreadable cream cheese; 2 tbls melted butter; 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg; 10 coarsely crushed shortbread biscuits (I didn’t have shortbread in the pantry so I used choc chip biscuits – nobody complained!); 1/4 cup melted butter; 1 tbls sugar; 3/4 cup sliced almonds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/160C fan/gas mark 4.

Place squash chunks in a large saucepan, add water to cover. Bring to the boil. Cover & cook until tender,15-20 minutes.

Drain; leave to cool slightly. When cooler, process in a food processor until only slightly chunky.

Add pineapple, cream cheese, butter, cinnamon & nutmeg – blitz until smooth. Transfer mixture to a greased 8-in. square baking dish (I used 4 individual ramekins)

For the topping:

Combine the crushed cookies, butter, and sugar together until well mixed.

Sprinkle evenly over the surface of the pineapple and squash mixture. Top with the sliced almonds.

Bake, uncovered, until edges are lightly browned, and almonds are golden brown, around 35-40 minutes. Serve with cream, ice cream or yoghurt mmmm.

Pineapple lime jelly

 Adapted from a few different websites . . . Thanks for the idea Ky, Anne

1 packet pineapple jelly crystals; 1 packet lime jelly crystals; 1 small can pineapple pieces; 250ml premade custard; 2 tblsp shredded coconut

Step 1: Make up one of the 2 jelly packets and when cool but not set pour into glasses of your choice. Sit the glasses in a bowl at a tilt. Pack around the glasses with tissue paper to hold them in place.

Step 2: When the jelly is set make up the 2nd jelly packet and when cool pour into the same glasses and tilt at a different angle.

Step 3: When the 2nd jelly has set pour in some custard, add some pineapple pieces and top with shredded coconut.