What's for Dinner? "PorkyPine" Skewers
By Caitlin Klein in Food on May 9, 2011 6:00PM
If you make something with pork and pineapple and call all your friends up and invite them over for dinner for "porky-pine" and they show up and you are not, in fact, cooking a porcupine, they are going to be hella pissed. They will not think you are cute for your clever play on words. We know this from experience. We've been trying to get people to think we are cute for years. The best you can do is to set the hot pork on the table and quickly back away.
The quandary is where to procure a fresh pineapple in Chicago. Unlike our buddies at Hawaiiist, we have access to neither pineapple plants nor Dog the Bounty Hunter. Tragedy. But look on the bright side - they really don't grow pineapples anywhere in the continental United States, so you're just as guilty as the next guy for buying a product that has to be shipped across three oceans, trucked approximately one trillion miles, and orbited around the moon before it gets to you.
Normally we'd chide you for purchasing a product with such an ugly carbon footprint, except the simple fact remains: pineapples are f*cking delicious. Where do you find yours? We get ours from Stanley's on Elston - they're always there, and always cheap. We've seen 'em pre-cut at the Whole Foods, which is cool too.
Grilled pineapple pairs with spiced pork nicely in this easy, weeknight recipe.
Chicagoist's BBQ Pork and Pineapple Skewers
Ingredients (for two)
2 pork chops, or one large butterflied chop (shown)
3 T of your favorite BBQ spice rub
½ of a fresh pineapple
½ cup BBQ sauce
Directions
1. Preheat the grill. If you do not have a grill, make friends with a person who does.
2. Cut the pineapple into 1 inch cubes. (How do I do that?)
3. Cut the pork into 1 inch cubes. Coat completely in spice rub.
4. Skewer the pineapple and pork, alternating each. The pieces should be touching, but not crowded.
5. Grill for 15-20 minutes, or until the pork is no longer pink inside. Brush with BBQ sauce for the last 7-8 minutes. Don’t do this too early - BBQ sauce has lots of sugar in it, so it might caramelize and burn on a hot grill.
6. Everyone gets their own skewer. Porkypine party.