Chef Gale Gand's Roasted Pineapple Carpaccio

Recipe courtesty Gale Gand

Roasted Pineapple

yields 10-18 orders

1 pineapple, peeled

1 1/4 cups butter

1 3/4 cups organic light brown muscavado sugar

1 vanilla bean, split

Peel pineapple and leave whole. In a saute pan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar and vanilla beans. Cook to caramelize the sugar, then place the pineapple in and cook on all sides to brown. Add some water to the pan and continue cooking, turning the pineapple with tongs and basting occasionally until roasted through to the core. It may take 1 hour or more. Chill, then slice thin (either with an electric slicer or by hand).

Coconut-Cilantro Dressing

yields 1 1/4 cups

1 cup simple syrup

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 1/2 tsp cilantro leaves, chopped

Whisk ingredients together and chill.

Macadamia Nut Brittle

yields 2 cups chopped

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water to dissolve

2 Tbsp butter

1 cup macadamia nuts, toasted, cooled, and chopped

In a saucepan, boil the sugar and water together to make a caramel. Test the color of the caramel on a white plate. You're looking for a topaz color. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter with a wooden spoon, then stir in the nuts. Pour onto a baking sheet and let cool. Chop and keep in an airtight container.

Buttermilk-Key Lime Sherbet (this can also be bought in the grocery store)

yields 4 cups

1 cup spring water

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup key lime juice

In saucepan, boil the sugar and water together. Let cool slightly, then mix in the buttermilk and key lime juice. Spin in ice cream freezer.

Crystalized Cilantro Leaves

makes 12

1 egg white

1/4 cup sugar

12 cilantro leaves

Place the egg white in a small bowl and whisk it slightly to break it up a bit. Dip the individual leaves in the egg white and wipe them off on the edge of the bowl to remove any excess. Dip into granulated sugar on both sides.

Coconut Butter Cookies (These can also be bought in the grocery store)

1 lb Plugra butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tsp dark rum

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups fine coconut, toasted

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

In a mixer, which the butter until very light and fluffy, warming the bottom of the bowl with a torch if needed. Add the sugar and continue whipping, then add the rum and vanilla and mix. Toss together the coconut, flour and salt, then add to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Butter a small sheet pan and line it with plastic all the way up the sides. Spread the dough evenly into the pan, cover it with plastic and freeze. Cut into 2 inch strips and roll in flour. Wrap and freeze or cut into 1/8 inch bars and place on parchment lined sheet pan. Bake in a conventional oven at 250 until crisp but barely any color.

For the Plate Up

Fresh ground black pepper

Fresh coconut strips

To make the coconut strips, heat a whole coconut over a gas flame to slightly char all sides. Wrap it in a tea towel and whack it on the floor to break it open. Carefully pry the meat from the shell in as whole pieces as possible. With a vegetable peeler, peel off thin strips of the fresh coconut meat. Store in simple syrup, chilled to cover.