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I made an impulse purchase of a pineapple this week and don't really know what to do with it. My stomach only lets me eat a little raw pineapple nowadays. Any cooking/baking suggestions?

Pineapple upside down cake! Always! I steal the pineapples that people buy for other purposes to make pineapple upside down cake. And I just love baking a cake in the cast iron skillet.

OK, not the most creative solution on earth, but oh so tasty.

might be good as a sweet element in a stir fry, or you could chop it up and mix it with dijon mustard to make a jezebel sauce/marinade for pork or chicken.

i bet it would also just be good grilled in slices.

There is an amazing braised pineapple with peppercorns recipe in the new Daniel Boulud cookbook! Wish I could find a copy of it online for you.

oh, i meant to post earlier:

does anyone know of a good asian dish that features eggplant? i have a perfect storm of soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger, and bean sprouts in my fridge, and i thought eggplant might go, but want to look at some recipes first....

Does anyone have any good recipes with saffron? Ideally, something not involving a cream sauce?

Does anyone have any good advice on making genoise? The last two times I tried it, it tasted like cake leather- it was thin and rubbery. I'm scared to try it again, so a foolproof recipe or any advice would greatly be appreciated.

1. pineapple - make some pork al pastor, for tacos or enchilladas. Spicy deliciousness! this is the most complicated recipe out there (http://www.latimes.com/features/food/cl-fo-tacorec4jun04,1,2874490.story?coll=la-headlines-food), but you can easily simplify it with whatever chiles you can find... who cares about authenticity!

2. saffron - I've been dying to make this recipe for months now - http://whatdidyoueat.typepad.com/what_did_you_eat/2006/08/whb_zuni_cafe_c.html
looks so super yummy!

I'm off to go explore Bay Ridge. We're thinking of cooking Middle Eastern tonight. Yum!

Katrina,

No kidding. When I was experimenting with Genoise for my book, I ended up abandoning the recipe because it was so difficult and the book's recipes are meant to be realatively easy and joyful to make, not frustrating. That said, it is possible to make a great Genoise. I find Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe from her classic Cake Bible to be the most approachable. Here is a funny piece on her website about how even she has failed at Genoise:
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2006/01/fear_of_genoise_an_important_l.html

Good luck!

Michelle,

Grill it! I'm assuming you actually are in Montreal and probably aren't grilling this time of year, but if you have an indoor grill pan, that's just as good. I love to slice the pineapple in 1/2" thick pieces, remove the rind and brush with a tiny bit of oil. Throw them on the grill until they begin to get fragrant, flip and grill for the same amount of time.

Really nice over sticky rice and/or with a curry.

Re: Pineapple - February Living had a whole feature on pineapple recipes, including a yummy looking pineapple curd sauce.

We have a tiny kitchen, and I would like to put up a wall-hung dish draining rack over our sink, as the current dish drainer takes up half the counter space. Can anyone suggest any good on-line vendors for such an object...

ok so I juest recived a cast iron griddle for christmas and its preseasoned, and i know i cant use soap or a scour pad, but after 2 months of use its loooking a little gross. I try to clean it while its still hot with a wet cloth and, well other then that, im not sure what to do. Any hints?

alison - i've never heard of a wall-mounted dish drainer, but you might solve your problem by installing a wire or mesh shelf (like this: http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=77777&PRODID=60639) above the sink and then setting a regular dish drainer (sans drainboard) on the shelf.

Matt - For my cast iron things, I use coarse salt or baking soda, with a dish brush. I have also used soap and a regular dish scrubber with no ill effects--no matter how I wash it, afterwards I always stick it on a heated burner, to make sure it dries, and then rub oil all over it.

Michelle--I second the idea of grilling the pineapple. Yum yum! Serve with ice cream and some caramel sauce, oh baby, you've got a party. Oh, and if you're a fan, pineapple (w/ some Canadian bacon, eh?) on pizza is faboo.

Liz--For an asian dish with eggplant, how's about Szechuan (Szechwan?!) stirfry? I saw an episode of Food 911 on the Food Network a while back that had a tasty-looking recipe. Here's the link:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_24314,00.html

It's basically a veggie saute with a sauce of soy sauce, brown sugar, chicken (or veggie) broth, and rice vinegar. I'd love to hear how it turns out!

And a question of my own: I'm making posole from scratch using some dried posole/hominy/corn I got for Christmas. The instructions say that I soak the hominy overnight, like you would for beans, and then simmer the next day until tender before adding the other soupy ingredients. Question is: should I salt the water when I simmer the hominy on Day 2? It says to do so in the directions, but my gut tells me that it will interfere with the water absorbtion?

for saffron: bouillabaisse, saffron almond rice pilaf, fish soup, or bouillabaisse (i made this with tiger prawns and scallops instead of lobster)

and for the pineapple, i think you should use some for a stir-fry. this is really similar to what i do whenever i have pineapple, but i use udon noodles with mine though.

and now with the links that got auto-removed:

saffron almond rice pilaf: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105617

fish soup: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105642

bouillabaisse: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/106741 (i made this with tiger prawns and scallops instead of lobster)

stir-fry: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105675

Grilled Pineapple is the best! I put a little maple syrup on mine.

Saffron--I put a little in my rice, very nice.

Genoise--it does take a little trial and error, I second the Rose Levy Beranbaum's book the cake bible, it rocks. The other item is a Kitchen Aide mixer (I know who has room in a tiny kitchen).

maggie: saffron = paella in my book

there are lots of recipes out there, but it's basically just chorizo, cod, and shellfish on top of saffron rice with onions, garlic, peas, and tomatoes. use olive oil for your fat and a little sherry and lemon for your acid.

Alison,
Ikea has the racks that you are looking for, they are Grundtal drying racks.

Target also has something that might work for you.
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-12/qid=1171259122/ref=sr_1_12/601-1571380-4536158?ie=UTF8&asin=B0006U4XAW

Grill the pineapple, but coat it with a little salt and chili powder first. Very tasty with ice cream.

Just wanted to report back on the posole--I ended up NOT adding salt when I simmered the kernels. They puffed up quite nicely and also absorbed some of the broth when I made the final soup, so everything was nice and tasty. Soup was AWESOME: chicken, posole/hominy, onion, red pepper, mushroom, and a can of diced tomatoes. Broth was half chicken stock and half water (cuz I didn't have enough stock, oops!). A few teaspoons each of chili powder, cumin, salt, and red pepper flakes. About half a squeezed lime. Yum yum! Fresh and clean tasting, and quite filling! My boyfriend and I didn't even make it to the dining room table, but ate standing up at the kitchen counter.

Thanks to everyone for you pineapple suggestions! If my bbq was not under 10" of snow, I would be out grilling it. Without a grill pan (perhaps a good investment), grilling was out.

ann, that pork al pastore recipe is SO complicated! But it's on file for late summer when the local market is flooded with hot chili peppers.

I ended up making a stir-fry, using the recipe linked by Erin. Yummy, but I could have used more spice. And I managed to completely muck up the shrimp texture. Check out the photo linked to my name.

MoM, you'll probably do something slightly different next time to ensure shrimp texture is right for you.
But I'm absolutely sure from the photo that it was as delicious as it looks! Good one!

i should have mentioned that i add sambal too mine. your stir fry LOOKS beautiful anyway!