Ask Us: Do you have any ideas/recipes for using pineapple juice as a main ingredient in a main dish or appetizer? Someone left me a whole bunch of cans after a party. I want to use them up but I couldn’t find too many recipes using it except for making smoothies or drinks.
Answer:
Pineapple was a big deal during my growing up years. First, because my dad would cook breakfast for us on Sundays and he loved pineapple juice, so that was always the go-to beverage with the pancakes or whatever else he made. But mostly because my Mom, who was not a wine drinker, had decided that pineapple juice would be a good substitute whenever she needed to baste a chicken, turkey or duck.
I never lost my taste for the stuff. It’s still a pantry basic in my kitchen, still the beverage choice for a Sunday morning meal (I also love it mixed with rum on a Saturday night). And, like my Mom, I use it for cooking, but I’ve gone way beyond its value as a basting fluid. I turn to pineapple juice whenever I need a sweetish-tartish liquid to energize flavor in a marinade or to give a smooth, moisture-laden richness to a casserole or to add a lively tangy glaze to poultry. Here are some of the reasons I keep pineapple juice on hand:
- For basting baked apples
- As a marinade (mixed with ingredients such as soy sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey) for lamb, veal and skirt steak
- For basting turkey, chicken or duck
- To add a fluffy texture to mashed sweet potatoes and baked winter squash (which also lets me cut down on sweetener)
- To glaze grilled chicken, lamb, fish (especially salmon) and even fruit
- To lend acidity to mango or peach chutney
- To mix with mayonnaise and plain yogurt as a dressing for fruit salad, or grilled fish or fruit
Hope this helps you and anyone else with extra pineapple juice, try my recipe for Roasted Turkey Half-Breast with Pineapple-Sambal Glaze.
Leave a Reply