Grilled Pineapple

Mom recently went to a fundraiser for Haymarket Center. She brought home the menu because she thought I might like a bunch of the dishes served. She was right. One interesting item was the salad with grilled pineapple. I had not thought about grilling pineapple before, so I had to give it a try. I used canned pineapple for its convenience. Fresh pineapple could easily be used as well. I thought that using slices was easier to flip than using chunks, but chunks would grill up just fine. This salad was a great use of the grilled pineapple. I also think grilled pineapple could be used as a dessert when served with ice cream or cake.

Grilling pineapple is quite easy. I used my grill pan on the stovetop. You could also use an outdoor grill. The salad from Mom's menu called for some fancy items, like Boston Bibb, Radicchio, Arugula, Frisse, shaved almonds, Peruvian peppers, tomato garnish, Gouda cheese, and red wine vinaigrette. I was able to recreate the salad. I did have to use regular sweet pepper. I also could not find frisse, which is a type of endive. But otherwise, the salad was delicious.  

Grilled Pineapple 

• 1 can pineapple sliced, drained
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• olive oil or butter for grill pan

Place the pineapple slices in a ziplock bag. Mix the lime juice and brown sugar together; pour into the ziplock bag. Allow the pineapple to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Heat a grill pan greased with olive oil or butter. Place the slices on the pan and grill for three to five minutes per side. Serve on a salad. Enjoy!

Strawberry Pop Tarts

Pop Tarts made a regular appearance in my childhood. Recently Jerry Seinfeld's movie about Pop Tarts, Unfrosted, came out and reminded me of my love for Pop Tarts. I have not had store-bought Pop Tarts in a long time, but I do not think Pop Tarts would taste as good now as they do in my memory. So, I decided to make homemade pop tarts. These pop tarts are so much better than any store-bought Pop Tart could ever be.

The pastry is a pie crust, so the resulting pop tarts are nice and flaky. And using strawberry preserves is much better that the goo that you find the store-bought version. This recipe yields eight pop tarts based on the four by three inch size. You could make smaller or larger pop tarts, at your preference.

Strawberry Pop Tarts 

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter, cold and cubed
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1/2 tsp. honey
• strawberry preserves
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• dash vanilla
• sprinkles, optional

In a large bowl, blend flour, sugar, and salt. Use a pastry cutter to cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Pour in cold water and honey while mixing until a dough ball forms. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 3x4 inch rectangles. Place a rectangle on a lined baking sheet. Spread about a tablespoon of strawberry preserves onto the bottom, leaving about a 1/4 inch edge. Brush water onto the edge to help the top lay stick. Place a second rectangle over the preserves. Crimp the edges of the two layers together. Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool. Combine the powdered sugar, water, and vanilla to make the frosting. Spread onto each pop tart. Add sprinkles. Enjoy!

Fish Fillets Florentine

This recipe has only 3 ingredients and is so easy to make. Dishes that use spinach are often called Florentine, although there is some dispute over how this came to be; it seems to be based on Italian influences on French cooking.

I used tilapia because it is such an easy and light fish. But just about any fish could work well. The only other ingredients are spinach and cream of potato soup. When I made this recipe, I served it over noodles. Any type of noodle, rice, or grain could nicely accompany this dish. In making this recipe, I accidentally added the entire can of soup to the spinach, so I just spread some of the mixture in the pan and the rest covering the fish.

Fish Fillets Florentine 

• 2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 can condensed cream of potato soup
• 1 pound fish fillets

Mix the spinach and half the can of soup. Spread into a 9x9 pan or a 9-inch pie pan. Top with fish. Then spread remaining soup over the fish. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until done. Enjoy!