Pineapple flambéed with cointreau

I love to do this recipe with peaches in summer. But since we’re now at the end of summer, the peaces have finished and we opt for other fruit. Pineapple, with its slightly tangy taste is a good substitute for peaches. See this post for a grape version.

Recipe:

  1. 1 large pineapple
  2. juice of 1 lemon
  3. 1 vanilla pod
  4. 50 ml sugar
  5. 2 TBSP butter
  6. 50 ml Cointreau
  7. 200 ml greek yogurt
  8. 200 ml mascarpone
  • Add the sugar, butter and lemon juice to a saute pan.
  • Cut the pineapple into bitesize pieces.
  • Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds.
  • Add the pineapple and vanilla seeds with the seed pod to the sugar mixture in the pan.
  • Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes until the pineapple starts getting tranlucent and the syrup gets thick.
  • Pour 50 ml of Cointreau over the pineapples and set alight to flambée the mixture.
  • When the flames have died down,remove the vanilla pod and leave the pineapples to cool down slightly.
  • Mix together the greek jogurt and mascarpone until smooth.
  • Serve the pineapple still warm with a dollop of jogurt and mascarpone.

Serves 6

Cut the pineapple into bite size pieces.

Pour some Cointreau or Armagnac over the hot pineapples.

Set alight to flame.

To set food alight, is something everybody always enjoy. With ooh and aahs, mesmerized by the flames licking the food, we stare at the show. It can of course be very dangerous and not at all should children be allowed to do it. For those inexperienced, don’t do it like you see chefs doing it on television with big drama and whooshing  flames up to the ceiling. With 50 ml of alcohol at 40 percent, you already get a spectacular flame. Don’t lean over the casserole you are about to flambé and stand far enough away, but still close enough to have control on what you are doing. You can pour a little alcohol into  stainless steel soup ladle with long handle to heat up directly over a flame and light up, then pour the burning alcohol over the pan for effect. Or you can add the alcohol to the warm grapes and then set alight. In both cases, switch off all other gas flames on the stove, stay away from candles and any other flames. If you feel unsure, skip the flambé step. just pour in the Cointreau alcohol over the grapes and let it cook for about 3-4 minutes for the alcohol to cook off. Enjoy and be safe above all else!

“Papillote” with saffron-pineapples.

I can’t imagine who wants to side step dessert…!

I’m a dessert person, however small it may be. Just don’t heap up my plate with mountainous triangles of cheesecake! A dessert is the ending to a good meal, as a small starter is the beginning… just like a story. A meal is story telling after all. Like any good story, it needs an attention grasping first sentence to create anticipation.  And it needs a creative ending to make the reader sit back with a sigh of contentment and contemplate the delight of escaping in dreams and living and being…

A small, light dessert, mostly with some kind of fruit does exactly that for me.  With an espresso afterwards. Maybe a chocolate as well. A sensual experience. Then I too can sit back and contemplate the delight of living, breathing and eating….

Papillote with saffron-pineapples and raspberries.

  • To prepare one papillote: cut a rectangle of baking paper about 40cm long. Fold the two long lengths over to the middle, overlapping by 3 cm and press folds in the paper. Fold the two short sides over to the middle and press folds in the paper. When you open up your paper, you will clearly see the folds of the little rectangle in the middle of your paper. That is where you filling will go.
  • Filling: A handfull of pineapple chunks, cut to your desired size.
  • A few raspberries.
  • Grated lime rind
  • Freshly squeezed lime juice
  • Fresh passion fruit pulp
  • Honey
  • A few strands of saffron.
  1. Fold your papillotes and place them, opened up, on a baking sheet.
  2. Place in the middle of each papillote some pineapple and raspberries. Sprinkle with a strand or two of saffron. Drizzle with some lime juice and honey and top with passion fruit pulp.
  3. Close the papillote by folding the long ends over the filling, overlapping on top. Take each short end on the side of the filling and twist to opposite sides like a candy wrapper. Fan open up the wrapper ends to make attractive twists.
  4. Bake in a preheated oven at 210 degrees C for about 15-20 minutes.
  5. Leave to cool. Place the papillotes on individual plates, pull open the overlapping tops and serve slightly warm with Bulgarian joghurt on the side.

     …hummingbird hawkmoth…

This is an entry for weekend herb blogging, hosted this week by A Scientist in the kitchen.