How to tell when a pineapple is ripe?
How to tell when a pineapple is ripe?
When choosing a fresh pineapple, sniff first. Choose one that smells pineapple-y but not too much so (too much perfume and it's likely overripe).
Look for a firm, heavy fruit that has yellow-orange coloring around the base; that's a sign of ripeness (being able to easily pull a leaf out of the pineapple's crown is not).
And some believe that the prickly eyes of the pineapple should be the same size, a sign that the fruit has reached its full mature sweetness.
You can leave basil leaves whole and add them to salads and hot dishes toward the end of cooking, tear them into pieces for more capricious basil flavor, or thinly slice them. To avoid bruising the basil, slide a sharp knife down and across the basil with a deliberate, smooth stroke. A clean cut will darken the leaves less than a pounding cut.
To slice basil, first stack the leaves together.
You can either roll them up like a cigar and slice through them to make a chiffonade, or just slice away at them as they are.
Ham is a cut of meat taken from the hind leg of a hog.
Ham can be bought fresh, but most host ham is sold already processed in some way. The salting, smoking and aging of pork was an invention of the Gauls and was an ancient European method of preserving backyard pigs that were slaughtered in the autumn and preserved for winter.
Ham can be dry-cured by coating it with salt -- as in the case of Italian prosciutto -- and may also be smoked like Spanish Serrano ham or Bayonne ham from France. It can be brined in a process called sweet-pickle curing (when sugar is added it's called sweet-cured) or injected with brine like the majority of mass-produced hams. So-called country-cured hams from the American south include Virginia's famous Smithfield ham.
what you should know
Columbus was the first European to feast on pineapple. In 1493, while looking for fresh water in the Caribbean, he docked at Guadeloupe and found this prickly, sweet titan instead. It looked like a pine cone, so he called it piña. And the rest is history.
divide & conquer When you buy cut pineapple rings, you pay a premium for the in-store work. Prepping a fresh pineapple takes just a few minutes and gets you more and juicier fruit.
sniff & poke When choosing a fresh pineapple, sniff first. Choose one that smells pineapple-y but not too much so. Look for a firm one that has yellow-orange coloring around the base; that's a sign of ripeness. Being able to easily pull a leaf out of the pineapple's crown is not an indicator of ripeness. (It's an indicator of being able to pull a leaf out of the crown.)
fat patrol Pineapples contain an enzyme called protease that helps break down proteins. This makes the fruit risky to use in marinades.
aloha There's a great book in the story of Lana'i, Hawaii's smallest island. James Doles bought the entire island in the 1920s and began converting it into a plantation that would eventually supply 90% of the world's pineapple. Hawaii's pineapple era has tapered in favor of tourism.
what you need
We're fine just using a sharp knife, but tons of people swear by this pineapple easy slicer. If you eat a lot of fresh pineapple and you've got $10 you're itching to get rid of, knock yourself out.
If you belong to the pineapple-on-pizza school (as we do), you'll love this Batali pizza peel with a wood handle and stainless steel plate.
Frederick Exley, the author of one of Chip's favorites books, lived on the old pineapple plantation of Lana'i for a while while writing his last book.
what you do
All the taste buds are stoked in this classic ham, pineapple and mushroom pizza.
Browned pineapple adds some rich, tropical sweetness to this savory stir-fry of shrimp and bok choy.
You could broil or grill these mushroom, pineapple, tomato and beef kebabs. It's a beautiful dish either way.
No balance of sweet and salt in these delicious pineapple rings with buttered rum sauce. They're hardcore sugar bombs but they're worth every cavity they produce.
Featured recipe: The pineapple fried rice recipe comes from reader Missy Frederick and is the featured recipe for this week's Root Source Challenge.
Tomato paste vs. tomato purée vs. tomato sauce
Tomato paste vs. tomato purée vs. tomato sauce
Do you sometimes get these confused?
Tomato paste is made from tomatoes that have been cooked for a few hours, strained and reduced into a rich, sweet paste. Tomato paste is most commonly used in pizza sauce. A dollop of tomato paste adds a dark, savory flavor to soups and stews.
Tomato purée consists of tomatoes that have been cooked briefly and strained to produce a thick, tangy liquid. Tomato purée is used in soups, stews and sauces to add the tomato flavoring without the texture. We use it as the flavor base in certain recipes, this Indian chicken stew, for example.
Tomato sauce refers to any sauce made out of tomatoes. That includes the ubiquitous Italian tomato sauce with all its variations, as well as Indian and Thai curries that have a tomato base. Tomato sauce can be canned, jarred or fresh. Time-willing, we prefer to make our own. Try this lasagna with homemade Italian tomato sauce.
