Please don't make fun of me. Well, you can make fun of me, but don't let me hear you. 🙂 Six years ago I was making dinner for some friends and included fruit cocktail as a side dish. This was before Pennies on a Platter, and definitely at a time when I barely knew a thing in the kitchen. This was quite obvious because after dinner one of my friends asked if I forgot to "core" the pineapple. Forgot!? Well, no I didn't forget! I just didn't know that I needed to!! Ah-ha!
Since then, I've been bashful of the pineapple and only bought it already diced, ready to use. The other day while grocery shopping I decided that I needed to face my fear and learn how to cut up my own pineapple. It would definitely save me money! And, with Google, I knew I could find myself a video tutorial, right?
Well, ladies and gents, I am proud to announce that I have battled my enemy and pineapples are now my friend! In fact, I can't believe how easy it is to cut one up and dice it. I'm so embarrassed that I put this off for so long. Seriously, I can work with yeast, decorate with royal icing, make an insane German Chocolate cake and yet I couldn't cut up a pineapple? Darrr! 😉
In case you are like me I was, I decided to photograph my steps and post them for you. Actually, I hope there are some of you out there that can use this information, because if I'm the only one that had no clue how to cut up a pineapple, then I will really feel like a ding dong! Not that being a ding dong is uncool...
How to Cut and Dice a Pineapple
Tools Needed:
Pineapple (really!)
Sharp Chef's Knife
Cutting Board
Paring Knife (optional)
Step 1: Slice off the top and bottom of the pineapple.
Step 2: Discard the stalk. It's not tasty.
Step 3: Stand the pineapple on its bottom and cut off the skin...
...digging deep enough to rid most of the brown eyes.
Step 4: Discard the rind (skin) or save it and make tepache.
Step 5: Using a paring knife, or an apple corer, dig out the rest of the brown eyes, if needed.
Step 6: Let's get rid of that ring in the center there, known as the core. (Yes, this is the part I forgot six years ago that started my avoidance of pineapples.) There are two ways you can do it:
Coring Option #1: Place pineapple on its side and slice into rings, using your paring knife to cut out the core for each piece. You can just stop here and use the pineapple rings to top your teriyaki hamburger or bake your pineapple upside down cake. Or go ahead and dice them up.
Coring Option #2: Stand pineapple on its bottom and slice around the core lengthwise. (Cut the fruit away from the core.)
Step 7: Dice up that pineapple. Enjoy and make some salsa! (Recipe soon to follow!)
Tomorrow - come back and see how my little Judah reacted to the taste of this pineapple. 🙂
