Grilled Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers

I wanted to make something with shrimp since the boyfriend was out with the boys for the night and he’s not a shrimp fan. I was chatting with Cat about food (what’s new) and we were tossing around ideas and came up with this. I knew I wanted shrimp, but Cat said scampi was boring. She suggested adding mango, I made it pineapple instead, and boom- this idea was born.

Last summer I made a glaze for chicken with a mix of piri piri hot sauce, butter, garlic, lemon juice and cilantro, it was wonderful. That was the inspiration for the sauce.

This is a really simple quick appetizer (or dinner) whip up the sauce, skewer everything, give it a quick turn on the grill, and drizzle with the sauce. Good to go. Quick and fancy- two of my favorite adjectives.

Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers with Spicy Sweet Sauce:

Sauce ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ of a medium sized jalapeno seeded and minced

Juice of 3 limes (about ¼ cup)

2 Tbs honey

2 Tbs pineapple juice (or orange juice)

1 Tbs cilantro finely chopped

Dash of Tabasco

Pinch of salt

Heat the olive oil and butter until the butter is melted. Add the garlic and jalapeno and sauté for about a minute. Add lime juice, honey and pineapple juice. Cook on medium for 2-3 minutes. Add cilantro, Tabasco and salt. Cook for an additional minute and reduce heat to low until ready to use. Sauce can be prepared in advance and warmed before use.

For the skewers:

About 1 lb of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cubed

Drizzle of olive oil

Bamboo skewers

Soak the bamboo skewers in water while you prepare everything (don’t skip this, trust me, if you do, they will catch fire). Alternate shrimp and pineapple on the skewers, drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Grill over medium heat about 3-4 minutes per side or until the shrimp is pink and the pineapple is lightly seared.

Drizzle the skewers with the sauce and serve warm.

notice the burnt skewers

A few notes:

If you don’t soak the skewers they will burn. See picture above. So don’t skip this step (or use metal ones).

I thought about serving these as lettuce wraps, which I still think would be delicious. Simply take everything off the skewers, wrap in a large leaf of butter lettuce (the best kind for lettuce wraps) and either drizzle with sauce, or dip them. A few leaves of fresh cilantro would probably also be delicious.

How to tell if pineapple is ripe: Look at it. Does it have a golden yellow color to it? Smell it. Does it smell like pineapple? These are the best ways to tell if it’s ripe. The pineapple should also feel heavy for its size and be firm to the touch, if it’s too soft it is probably rotten.  Here is a tutorial on how to cut a pineapple, it’s not hard, please don’t buy the precut stuff- it’s a waste of money.

Use big shrimp if you can. I used smaller shrimp, which was still delicious, but bigger is better (at least when it comes to shrimp).

- Sue

Fresh Cranberry Relish

I’ll admit it; cranberries have never been my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. I have had all sorts, ranging from cooked cranberry sauce, to fresh cranberry relishes. My mom growing up made an excellent version with cranberries and oranges (and other things I don’t remember) but I always thought it was too bitter. In all fairness, my uncle Earl LOVED the stuff; he could eat it by the bowl (literally). So I think it just goes to show- it’s all a matter of taste. When I came across this recipe from I thought it might be just what I was looking for. It was true…I have become a cranberry convert. What I like about this is that it’s similar to my Mom’s with being a relish and having the orange/cranberry flavor I enjoy- but it has a couple of other things in there that sweeten it up a little bit- and a few other things that give it a really nice variety of texture.

Recipe from Thekitcn.com

Ingredients:

1 12-oz bag of fresh cranberries

1 1/2 tsp orange zest

1 large orange, sectioned and chopped into small pieces

1 apple, cored and diced (use a crisp variety such as Fuji)

½ cup canned crushed pineapple

½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup sugar

¼ tsp salt

Method:

My change in this recipe was my method of preparation (come on, I had to change something!)

Rinse and drain the cranberries. In a food processor pulse the cranberries and the sugar until finely chopped (about 12-15 times).

Put into a large bowl and set aside.

Add the apple, orange zest, and pecans to the food processor. Pulse a few times until everything is finely chopped and combined (about 10 times). Add to the bowl containing the cranberries.

Section the orange. To do this, slice a small disk off the top and the bottom of the orange, so it will sit on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to carve down the sides, removing the peel and the pith (white part) completely from the orange. Using a paring knife cut the orange on either side of the thin membrane that separates each section. The sections should come out easily with a little wiggle. Chop roughly and add to the relish.

Add the ½ cup of crushed pineapple and stir to combine all the ingredients. Let the relish sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours for the flavors to combine. You can make this a day in advance in keep it in the fridge, or make it far in advance and put it in the freezer (for like a year).

Thanksgiving’s almost here….is your turkey thawed?

-Sue