Tamarind Pork with Pineapple Chutney

Photo courtesy of Cooking Light

This dish was so good. As I sat down to eat it, I was licking my lips and showering my husband with praise. (I left the recipe out on the counter and he had the pork ready and waiting for me when I got home from work. I was ecstatic!) It may seem like a random recipe to try, but ever since last week when I bought some tamarind paste (hoping to add an authentic touch to some shrimp pad thai), I have been wondering what to do with the rest of the jar.

Tamarind is a sour-sweet flavor common to some Asian and South American cuisines. I loved it in this recipe, in which the pork comes out tender, moist and absolutely packed with flavor. Sour and sweet, tangy and a little spicy, this dinner was full of juxtapositions and we couldn't get enough.

P.S. We were fresh out of rum (Why is the rum always gone?) and my husband confided that he substituted some vanilla extract and water for it.

Tamarind Pork with Pineapple Chutney

Chutney:
1 1/2 teaspoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
3 cups chopped pineapple
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons gold rum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Pork:
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
1 tablespoon lower-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons tamarind paste
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil

1. To prepare chutney, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, ginger, and chile to pan; cover and cook 6 minutes or until onion is tender. Uncover. Stir in pineapple and next 3 ingredients (through 1/4 teaspoon salt); bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes or until pineapple is tender, stirring occasionally. Cool 20 minutes; stir in cilantro and red pepper.

2. Preheat oven to 400°.
3. To prepare pork, combine chili sauce and next 3 ingredients (through tamarind), stirring to combine. Reserve half of soy mixture. Heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork with 3/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper; coat pork with oil. Add pork to pan; sauté 4 minutes on 1 side or until browned. Brush pork with half of soy mixture; turn pork over. Place pan in oven; bake at 400° for 16 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of pork registers 155° (slightly pink). Remove pork from pan; let stand 10 minutes. Brush pork evenly with reserved soy mixture. Slice pork crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick medallions. Serve with chutney.

Zucchini Bread with Pineapple

We are at the height of zucchini madness. Squash flourishes in the summer heat and many home gardeners find themselves heavy laden with an excess of zucchini this time of year. The best solution to this overabundance, in my opinion, is zucchini bread.
Here is a new recipe that I found for a slightly different version than the ordinary bread I made growing up. (Thank, Simplyrecipes!) Studded with raisins, nuts and crushed pineapple, and laced with aromatic spices, I loved this bread. It also uses olive oil instead of vegetable oil. In fact, with fruit, vegetable, nuts, good fats, antioxidant-rich spices- this is pretty much a health food. :-) So feel free to grow as much zucchini as you can next year.

Zucchini Bread with Pineapple

3 eggs
1 cup olive oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixer, beat eggs. Add oil, sugar, and vanilla; continue beating mixture until thick and foamy. With a spoon, stir in the zucchini and pineapple.
2 In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. A third at a time, add dry ingredients into wet and gently stir (by hand) after each addition. Add the walnuts and raisins, blend gently.
3 Divide the batter equally between 2 greased and flour-dusted 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in to the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.
Makes 2 loaves.

Thai Dinner Party with Tropical Pie Recipe

This weekend, I finally did something I've wanted to do for some time now: I hosted a dinner party for friends. I broke the cardinal rule of hostessing in doing so, according to all of the articles I obsessively read in preparation. What was my crime? I served a series of recipes that I had never tried before. This is apparently a big no-no, but it was a risk I was willing to take. (After all, am I really going to make a multi-course meal and buy unusual ingredients to serve just my husband and I? Probably not.)

Speaking of my husband, he assisted me as an excellent sous-chef and there was something wonderful about putting together something so cool together. The menu was Thai-themed and some recipes came out better than others, but overall it was a great time with fun people and lots of laughs. I can't wait to host my next one! Here are some pictures of a few of the dishes, and a recipe for the pie, which was probably my favorite of all the new dishes I tried. To my guests, I had a blast, and hope you didn't mind being my guinea pigs!

The table setting

Close up on a table setting, with name cards!

Chicken Satay, grilled in a peanut sauce

Tangy Cucumber Salad

Fresh Pineapple, Coconut and Macadamia Nut Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust (half of 15-oz package), room temperature

3 c. ½ inch pieces of fresh pineapple, well-drained

2/3 c. sugar

¼ c. all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

3 eggs, beaten to blend

¼ c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

½ c. sweetened flaked coconut

1/3 c. chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 325F. Flatten crust on lightly floured surface; press seams together if necessary. Fit into 9-inch diameter glass pie dish; crimp edges.

Arrange pineapple in crust. Combine sugar, flour, and salt in medium bowl. Add eggs and butter and blend well. Pour batter evenly over pineapple. Sprinkle coconut and macadamia nuts over and press lightly into batter. Bake until light brown and center is firm to touch, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely. (8 servings)

My Grandma's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

My aunt passed on this family recipe to me, relating that her mother (my pateral grandmother) used to make this cake for her family of six kids. Ever since the same aunt bought me a deep cast-iron skillet for Christmas and gave me this heirloom recipe, I have been itching to make it.

This week finally I tried it out, using what I happened to have in my pantry, including a white cake mix. I know it would probably be about twice as good if I'd made it from scratch, but it was still tasty indeed.

The pineapple slices kind of slid around in the baking process and if you're wondering why I didn't add more fruit, it looked full before I added the batter! I think it would be fun to use cherries, nuts or coconut in addition to the pineapple. We just loved the thick, caramelized topping. Yum!

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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (in Cast Iron Skillet)

Trader Joe’s has a good vanilla cake mix that works as a substitute for the dry ingredients. Just mix  1/4 cup pineapple juice in with 3/4 cup milk in place of the 1 cup of milk it calls for.

Cake:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

5 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

One can pineapple slices in juice

Buttermilk (or sour milk made with lemon juice and milk works fine) plus juice from drained pineapple to make 1 1/4 cup liquid

Maraschino cherries, halved (optional)

Chopped nuts (optional)

Topping:

½ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

Cake:

Cream white sugar and butter together. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Alternate adding the buttermilk/pineapple juice mixture and the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture until mixed without lumps.

Topping:

Put ½ cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar in a cast iron skillet. Heat on stove top over medium heat until bubbling. Then reduce heat while bubbling softly and thickening slightly, about 3 minutes total. Don’t burn the sugar/butter mixture. Turn off and lay drained pineapple slices decoratively on top. (Add cherries or nuts if desired.) Pour batter over slices. Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes until done. Let cake rest for 10 minutes and invert cake. Leave upside down for a minute or so. Lift pan.