4 boneless pork chops (could substitute chicken pieces)
salt & pepper
2 tbsp oil
6 tbsp butter
2 cups fresh pineapple peeled, cored, and medium diced
1 teaspoon chopped shallot or scallion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup coconut rum (I use tortuga but any coconut rum will do)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put oil in a large deep skillet and bring it up to high heat. Add pork chops and sear 3 minutes on each side. Place pork chops into a baking dish. Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and cover with foil. Place in oven for 8 minutes or until it reaches your preferred level of doneness. Meanwhile add two tablespoons of the butter to the skillet. When melted add pineapple and cook over medium high heat until it begins to brown and caramelize. Stir in garlic and shallots and cook for 2 minutes. Microwave the rum for 15 seconds or until warm to the touch. Add to the skillet. Quickly but carefully flambe to cook off the alcohol. When flames die down stir in brown sugar. Cook for 2 minutes then add 1 cup chicken broth. Cook over high heat until sauce reduces by half. Add the remaining butter to thicken sauce and continue cooking until it becomes a bubbly glaze consistency. Add pork chops back to the skillet with the sauce and turn them to coat them entirely in sauce. Serve.
This is good served with rice and a baked sweet potato with brown sugar pecan butter or fettucinni alfredo.
Here a some tips for flambeing safely. It's really quite simple. It just looks intimidating.
How to avoid a firey explosion from your flambé
Flambé Tips and Hints
• Use a flambé pan with rounded, deep sides and a long handle.
• Heat liquor slowly over a low flame in a pot with high sides to avoid the chance of it igniting prematurely. (The boiling point of alcohol is 175 degrees F., much lower than water.)
• The alcohol can be warmed in the microwave for about 15 seconds at 100% power until it is just warm to the touch.
• Use long fireplace matches or a long barbecue lighter to light the fumes of the alcohol at the edge of the pan, not the liquor itself.
• Be prepared for a whoosh of potentially far-reaching flames and stand back accordingly, making sure to avert your face.
• The fumes can also be lit by tilting the far side of the pan (opposite the handle) toward the heat source.
• Do not pour liquor straight from the bottle to the hot pan. The lit fumes can follow the liquor stream back to the bottle and cause an explosion. Pour the needed amount into a different container, warm it, and then add.
• Once you add the liquor to the pan, do not delay lighting. You don't want the food to absorb the raw alcohol and retain a harsh flavor.
• Be sure to let it burn long enough or the flavor of the alcohol will overpower the food. Stir to combine flavors before serving.
• Choose liquors or liqueurs that are complimentary to the food being cooked, such as fruit flavored brandies for fruits and desserts and whiskey or cognac for meats.
• An asbestos cooking mitt can also help insure a burnless flambé experience. Make sure no flammable items are sitting nearby ie dishtowels, pot holders, curtains, tablecloths, aprons etc.
• If the dish doesn't light, it's probably not hot enough.
• If you are planning the flambé as a performance for your guests, do not light the dish until it is at the table, far away from guests and any centerpieces or flammable objects.
• Do not carry a lighted dish to the table. The liquid could splash out of the pan, resulting in burn or fire hazard.
• The food to be flamed must also be warm. Cold foods may cool down the warm liquor to a point where it will not light.
• Meats will require 1 ounce of liquor or liqueur per serving.
• If you don't want to spring for a full bottle of liquor, most purveyors sell single serving sizes like those sold on airplanes.
• For desserts and fruits, sprinkle with granulated sugar before adding the warmed liquor and lighting.
• If you want the flames, but do not want the liquor in a dessert, soak sugar cubes in a flavored extract (not imitation). Place the cubes around the perimeter of the dish and light.
• Perform your flambé in a darkened room for a more theatric effect, but be sure you have enough light to see what you're doing.
salt & pepper
2 tbsp oil
6 tbsp butter
2 cups fresh pineapple peeled, cored, and medium diced
1 teaspoon chopped shallot or scallion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup coconut rum (I use tortuga but any coconut rum will do)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put oil in a large deep skillet and bring it up to high heat. Add pork chops and sear 3 minutes on each side. Place pork chops into a baking dish. Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and cover with foil. Place in oven for 8 minutes or until it reaches your preferred level of doneness. Meanwhile add two tablespoons of the butter to the skillet. When melted add pineapple and cook over medium high heat until it begins to brown and caramelize. Stir in garlic and shallots and cook for 2 minutes. Microwave the rum for 15 seconds or until warm to the touch. Add to the skillet. Quickly but carefully flambe to cook off the alcohol. When flames die down stir in brown sugar. Cook for 2 minutes then add 1 cup chicken broth. Cook over high heat until sauce reduces by half. Add the remaining butter to thicken sauce and continue cooking until it becomes a bubbly glaze consistency. Add pork chops back to the skillet with the sauce and turn them to coat them entirely in sauce. Serve.
This is good served with rice and a baked sweet potato with brown sugar pecan butter or fettucinni alfredo.
Here a some tips for flambeing safely. It's really quite simple. It just looks intimidating.
How to avoid a firey explosion from your flambé
Flambé Tips and Hints
• Use a flambé pan with rounded, deep sides and a long handle.
• Heat liquor slowly over a low flame in a pot with high sides to avoid the chance of it igniting prematurely. (The boiling point of alcohol is 175 degrees F., much lower than water.)
• The alcohol can be warmed in the microwave for about 15 seconds at 100% power until it is just warm to the touch.
• Use long fireplace matches or a long barbecue lighter to light the fumes of the alcohol at the edge of the pan, not the liquor itself.
• Be prepared for a whoosh of potentially far-reaching flames and stand back accordingly, making sure to avert your face.
• The fumes can also be lit by tilting the far side of the pan (opposite the handle) toward the heat source.
• Do not pour liquor straight from the bottle to the hot pan. The lit fumes can follow the liquor stream back to the bottle and cause an explosion. Pour the needed amount into a different container, warm it, and then add.
• Once you add the liquor to the pan, do not delay lighting. You don't want the food to absorb the raw alcohol and retain a harsh flavor.
• Be sure to let it burn long enough or the flavor of the alcohol will overpower the food. Stir to combine flavors before serving.
• Choose liquors or liqueurs that are complimentary to the food being cooked, such as fruit flavored brandies for fruits and desserts and whiskey or cognac for meats.
• An asbestos cooking mitt can also help insure a burnless flambé experience. Make sure no flammable items are sitting nearby ie dishtowels, pot holders, curtains, tablecloths, aprons etc.
• If the dish doesn't light, it's probably not hot enough.
• If you are planning the flambé as a performance for your guests, do not light the dish until it is at the table, far away from guests and any centerpieces or flammable objects.
• Do not carry a lighted dish to the table. The liquid could splash out of the pan, resulting in burn or fire hazard.
• The food to be flamed must also be warm. Cold foods may cool down the warm liquor to a point where it will not light.
• Meats will require 1 ounce of liquor or liqueur per serving.
• If you don't want to spring for a full bottle of liquor, most purveyors sell single serving sizes like those sold on airplanes.
• For desserts and fruits, sprinkle with granulated sugar before adding the warmed liquor and lighting.
• If you want the flames, but do not want the liquor in a dessert, soak sugar cubes in a flavored extract (not imitation). Place the cubes around the perimeter of the dish and light.
• Perform your flambé in a darkened room for a more theatric effect, but be sure you have enough light to see what you're doing.