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Disclaimer: this is not real BBQ. This is fake BBQ. This is the kind of BBQ you make during winter in your 44.5 square metre flat in London. Read: just add BBQ sauce.
With that out of the way, I can assure you that this easy meal hit all the right notes. For a relaxing night at home after a good day’s work, this plate is easy to make and is perfect for this time of year.
The meal began by picking up a fresh pineapple from the fruit stand downtown before heading home. The fruit is always fresh, ripe, and cheaper than you find in the grocery. One large, juicy, tangy tropical treat for £1. Perfect.
I seasoned two large cuts of pork with garlic, pepper, and smoked paprika. Pan seared each for two mins on either side and then put them in a Pyrex dish, add slices of the pineapple, and pop the dish in the oven for 20 mins.
For the rice, I use Tilda Pure Basmati rice. I begin by shaving a small amount of Biona organic creamed coconut into the bottom of the pot and using that as an oil to warm the rice grains. I then cook as indicated on the package, adding shavings of fresh ginger to it as it boils. When close to ready, I zest and squeeze half a lemon in the pan and add a few more shavings of creamed coconut. The result is a fluffy, aromatic Basmati rice with a sweet coconut taste.
I use the organic creamed coconut for several reasons. First, a little bit goes a long way. By adding small shavings of at the beginning and end of the rice preparation, I get the benefits of using a natural oil (and no addition oils) and the punch of huge coconut flavor at the end. This way, I don’t need to add any shaved, sugared coconut you buy packaged in the store – which adds a lot of unnecessary sugar to your white rice (the rice is after all, just sugar incarnate!)
Second, as a alternative to fresh coconut, coconut milk, or shaved sugar coconut – this creamed coconut is easy on the budget and lasts for a long time in the fridge. Fresh coconut would be lovely, but this meal is for a relaxing night at home after work – which for me, means a 30 min or less meal preparation. In short, my opportunity cost is too high to be shaving coconut after work.
I finish up the meal by lightly sautéing the thick cuts of the pineapple that I cooked with the pork with the barbecue sauce to quickly heat it up. Plate, serve, and enjoy!
I paired this dish with a glass of Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay. I like this pairing specifically for the complements between the peach notes in the wine and the flavor of the pork.
This meal is perfect for brightening up a winter evening. It changes things up a little with ease and reminds your palette of warm, sunny days to come.