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.
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