The Frontera Pineapple Giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who left comments! I used random.org to select the winner...drum roll please... Congrats to Mr. Bowie!
Contact me at homewithmandy @ gmail dot com with your mailing address and Frontera will ship fresh pineapples direct to you from the growers in Vera Cruz, Mexico.
Check back between now and March to enter the second Pineapple giveaway and you can also by liking Frontera on Facebook you are entered into a
grand prize drawing for a Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker valued at $200.
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Original Post
What's not to love about super sweet pineapples? It's natures candy! This fun looking fruit may look intimidating, it's prickly all over and spiked at the top. Once you get past that tough exterior though, a deliciously sweet flesh is perfect for incorporating into numerous meals. I recently partnered with Frontera Produce which grows super sweet, golden pineapples in Vera Cruz, Mexico and sells them under the
Frontera Premium Gold Pineapple label in stores across America.
After receiving this care package from Frontera Produce, my first thought was to make a batch of
my most favorite martini ever. Since I have already posted about the delish pineapple infused vodka, I decided to take this super sweet fruit and use it in a few savory dishes.
In order to keep your entire counter from getting sticky, I recommend cutting on a cookie sheet to corral all the juices from the pineapple from getting everywhere. With your knife, lop half an inch off the top and bottom of the pineapple.
Turn the pineapple upright onto its base. Notice the dark brown "eyes" around the edge of the pineapple. Place your knife on top of the fruit just behind one of the eyes. The eyes run down the side of the pineapple in a column. Slice down to the bottom of the fruit slightly turning your knife at the top and bottom to follow the curved shape of the pineapple.
Cut off the rest of the pineapple skin by slicing down from top to bottom along each row of eyes (as revealed by your first cut). Your knife should be behind the eyes at approximately a 45 degree angle. Don't try to cut off too much of the peel at once or you will take a lot of good fruit with it.
I defrosted and marinaded three boneless skinless chicken breasts in a mix of soy sauce, chopped cilantro, spicy chili paste, garlic, green onions and rice vinegar. I baked the chicken at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
I thought the savory and spicy flavor from this baked chicken and sauce would pair so nicely with the intense sweetness of the pineapple. Grilling does wonderful things to fruit as it caramelizes the sugars creating a golden brown color and concentration of flavor.
On a grill pan set over high heat, I turned wedges of super sweet, golden pineapples until I was happy with the charred marks created on all sides.
I then sliced the warm wedges into chunks and served as a side with the dark and spicy chicken and white sticky rice.
The combination, although simple, was just perfect together.
Jim and I both agreed the most wonderful bite consisted of a little of everything at once. Sweet and spicy is a classic combination. The grilled pineapple brought the perfect amount of sweetness to the savory chicken.
The next night, Jim and I set up an assembly line of ingredients to make kabobs for dinner.
Using a bottle from
Bell Springs, Jim marinaded chunks of sirloin steak for an hour in this local wine we both enjoy. He used about a cup of wine for the meat and we drank the rest with dinner!
This is the only Texas winery which Jim and I are wine club members.
Although it made us laugh to skewer purple meat on the kabobs, the time spent in the wine did impart a wonderful flavor to the steak.
I cut up fresh Premium Gold Super Sweet Frontera Pineapple, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, zucchini and onion. In addition to steak, I also had some fresh shrimp to add to the kabobs. I marinaded the shrimp in a bottled sweet onion sauce which caramelized on the grill.
Kabobs are a great dinner activity. You could invite each person to create their own kabob, just the way they like it.
I used mostly shrimp and veggies with pineapples. Jim used mostly the steak and pineapples.
I sprinkled the kabobs with salt and pepper and preheated my grill pan.
Sear the kabobs on all sides until the shrimp is completely cooked through and the steak is cooked to your liking.
I had to run into the living room to quickly take a pic of Jim's plate before he devoured his kabobs. They were so tasty! The wine soaked steak and the sweetness of the onion marmalade on the shrimp paired well with the charred veggies and pineapple. Delish!
When picking out the perfect pineapple you should always use your nose! Ripe pineapples emit the sweet, tropical aroma that you crave. A pineapple will ripen from the bottom up, so if the top smells fragrant then you have yourself a ripe pineapple!
The leaves of a ripe pineapple will be loose - If you can easily pull out a leaf at the crown then the pineapple is fresh and ready to be eaten. A good pineapple will be nice and plump with green leaves and a golden-yellow body. Avoid pineapples that are bruised or soft, have dry leaves, or a sour aroma. When in doubt, just use your nose!
Whole pineapples should keep in the refrigerator for three to five days after ripening. If you wish to cut up your pineapple you can store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
I had one more pineapple recipe up my sleeve that I wanted to try. Stir fry!
In an oiled wok, I sauteed chopped onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, garlic and finally I tossed in some chopped fresh pineapple.
Stir this around and let all the veggies brown.
Next, I stir in the sauce I made by stirring together a concoction of Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Corn Starch, Fish Sauce, Chili Garlic Sauce and Brown Sugar. See full ingredient list with measurements on
this Stir Fry post.
The last step was to add some leftover white rice (from the chicken and grilled pineapple recipe above.)
Once everything is stirred together, I served this up in my favorite Chinese bowl from Crate & Barrel. After the photo was taken I quickly realized that this wasn't a dish we could eat with chopsticks easily. With food this delicious, we much preferred to shovel it with spoons!
Now the fun part! Frontera is sponsoring a contest on my blog and you have two chances to win super sweet, golden pineapples shipped direct from the growers in Vera Cruz, Mexico. On
February 24th and March 2nd I will randomly select a winner from the comment section below.
The February 24th contest is now closed. Check back between now and March to enter the second Pineapple Giveaway.
You can enter the contest several times, here how:
Leave a new comment on this post each time one of these things are completed for more chances to win on February 24th and March 2nd.
Also, by liking Frontera on Facebook you are entered into a
grand prize drawing for a Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker valued at $200.
Lot's of pineapple love going on here at Home With Mandy! Best of luck my friends!!!!
