Crispy Pineapple with Coconut Ice Cream

Outside of its natural surroundings, two of the most popular tropical fruits are pineapple and coconut. Combining the two in one luscious and refreshing recipe, you condense the flavors of the Caribbean and the Pacific islands. So if you can’t go on your dream trip to a tropical island, bring the tropical paradise to your home by making this luscious, refreshing and crisp pineapple with coconut ice cream dessert.

Basically, pineapple and coconuts are healthy and nutritious fruits. This dessert recipe, however, is not exactly for those watching their weight or on a diet since it’s made with cream and eggs. The luxurious and luscious base of English cream used in the coconut ice cream is actually a type of light custard made with milk, egg yolks, and sugar. When the base is completed, coconut milk, coconut cream, and grated coconut are added to the mix and placed in an ice cream maker to get a smooth and creamy final product. If you do not have an ice cream machine, you can still make ice cream manually but the result is rougher and more rustic. If you opt to make ice cream manually, you need to churn the mixture every thirty minutes after it has frozen, repeating the process at least three times. To get a relatively smooth and even consistency use an electric mixer.

Sweet and ripe pineapples that are uniformly golden in color and small in size but plump in shape are the best pineapples for use in this recipe. They exude a wonderful sweet aroma. To prepare a pineapple, use a sharp knife to cut off the top and the base. Let the fruit stand upright on the cutting board then slice off the skin following the contour of the flesh, in long and vertical strips. Now using a paring knife, remove the eyes of the pineapple making small v-shaped grooves and working diagonally down all the way around the pineapple. Slice it in half then quarters and into bite-sized pieces. Remove and discard the tough core part.

Ingredients

1 pineapple

0.55 lbs. feuilletage (puff pastry)

3.5 oz. (7 tablespoons) powdered sugar

0.55 lbs creme patisserie (vanilla flavored custard filling for pastries and cakes)

8.8 oz. whipping cream

1 vanilla pod

3.6 oz. (about 7 tablespoons) semolina sugar

3 tablespoons water

grated coconut

coconut milk

For the English cream:

2 cups milk

4 egg yolks

19 teaspoons sugar

raspberries

powdered sugar

creme patissiere (French pastry cream)

1. To create an English cream, heat milk. Whip the egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Gently add the yolk-sugar mixture to the heated milk, stirring constantly. Heat the mixture over low fire until you obtain a custard texture. At the end of the cooking, remove the pot from the stove and add coconut milk, coconut cream, and some grated coconut. Mix well and place in the ice cream machine.

2. Slice the pineapple finely and collect the pineapple juice. Sprinkle some sugar icing on a plate and place the pineapple on top of it. Then sprinkle more of the sugar icing on top, then place the plate in the oven so it lightly caramelizes. Heat also the grated coconut in the oven.

3. Cut a small round stencil from a cardboard box. Get a plate and slightly sprinkle it with sugar icing. Place the stencil on the plate, and spread a little bit of the creme patissiere over the plate and the stencil. Bake for about 5 minutes to get a crispy round disc.

4. Place 3 scoops of the coconut ice cream on a serving dish. Sprinkle the scoops with some baked coconut. Decorate the dish with the crispy round biscuit and caramelized pineapples.

5. Be sure to pour some of the pineapple sauce on each side. Lastly, add a tiny bit of the raspberry sauce to decorate the dish.

Fruity Roast Goose

Roasted goose is a traditional Christmas dish. It makes an extraordinary main course and quite a spectacular centerpiece in the dinner table. It has crisp and golden skin and moist and flavorful flesh if cooked right. This recipe for roast goose, adapted from The Farmer Country Kitchen Cook Book by Margaret Landin, involves stuffing the whole goose with apples and sausage, and seasoned with croutons, butter, celery, onions, parsley, applesauce and chicken stock, and roasting it in the oven. The result is a remarkable feast that will create memories in the mind of your guests that will last a lifetime.

One of the things to keep in mind when cooking goose is that it contains a high percentage of fat compared to turkey or chicken. It will release a lot of grease as it bakes, which needs to be removed from the pan from time to time. Overcooking the goose not only dries out its flesh and it also makes it taste livery surrounded by pools of liquid fat. Similar to duck, goose is a red meat bird and unlike chicken or turkey, the breast should be a bit pink when served. The layer of fat in the goose helps keep it moist, tender and juicy but it should not be allowed to collect at the bottom or it will overwhelm the taste of the meat.Check out other chef recipes to help you out.

Choose a bird that smells and looks fresh when buying a whole goose. Before stuffing wash and dry the bird well. The excess pockets of fat from inside the cavity of the bird can be removed and this fat can be cooked slowly on low heat for use in baking or roasting in the future. Goose fat is very flavorful and makes tasty cooking oil for other meats. Prick the skin of the goose through the layer of fat covering the bird to allow the grease to come out while being roasted. But do not prick the meat or it can make the meat tough after cooking.You could always look for other ways too cook goose, just go to Gourmandia.ca and you'll be fine.

Ingredients

1 whole goose (8 to 9 lbs.)
8 oz. stuffing croutons
½ lb. ground sausage
¼ cup butter
2 tablespoons sausage drippings
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup applesauce
1 cup chicken stock

1 Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Then add the sausage and cook through. Remove the sausage using a slotted spoon, and place it in a large bowl. Add the croutons and mix well. Into a separate bowl pour the liquid in the skillet. Set the croutons aside.

2. Add the butter to the skillet and melt over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the sausage drippings. Add the celery and onions and sauté until tender and golden. Remove the celery and onions using a slotted spoon and place in the bowl with the croutons. Then add parsley and applesauce. Mix well.

3. Add a tablespoon or two of stock to the skillet. A little at a time add the remaining stock to the stuffing, until the stuffing is just moist. Spoon the stuffing into the goose. Truss the wings flat and tie the bird’s legs together.

4. In a roasting pan place the goose breast down. Roast 3 ½ to 3 ¼ hours, or until an insta-read thermometer reads 165 degrees F. When the goose is 2/3 done, turn it breast side up. Do not baste but periodically spoon off the fat collecting at the bottom of the pan.