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By Request

By Betty Shimabukuro

Wednesday, June 28, 2000

File photo
When you tire of eating sweet fresh
pineapple as is, put it in a pie.

---

Pining for a
pineapple pie

Another reason we're lucky we live Hawaii: pineapple recipes are easy to find.

Kari Lee Knierim is with the staff of the Valley County Extension Office in Glasgow, Mont. County extension agents are like wish fairies for home cooks. We have them here, at the University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture. They answer all kinds of questions about food, from how to roast a roast to how long you can safely leave that roast on your buffet table.

Anyway, Knierim had been asked by someone there in Glasgow for a recipe for pineapple pie. "I have exhausted all sources that I know of, near and far," Knierim wrote in her emailed call for help.

Glasgow, in the northeast corner of Montana, is a community of about 5,000 people and a whole lot of walleye, coho salmon and trout, Knierim says. The economy is mainly cattle and agriculture (not pineapple, though).

All it took on this end was to open a few local cookbooks and we struck the pineapple mother lode. Fresh pineapple pie, gelatin-pineapple pie, cream pie, sour cream pie. So much variety, and in a range of cooking techniques from scratch to use of a commercial pudding mix. It seemed a shame not to share these recipes in these pineapple-rich parts, so here we go.

Pineapple Pie

"Fruits of Hawaii" by Carey D. Miller, Katherine Bazore
and Mary Bartow, University of Hawaii Press, 1955

1/3 cup flour
1/2 to 1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups finely chopped fresh pineapple
1 unbaked double 9-inch pie crust
2 tablespoons margarine

Combine flour, 1/2 cup of sugar and salt. Add eggs. Stir in lemon juice and pineapple; taste and add more sugar if necessary, depending on tartness of pineapple. Pour into pie crust. Dot with margarine and moisten edge with water. Cover with top crust. Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees; reduce heat to 350 and bake 35 minutes longer.

Pineapple Pie
with Coconut Crust

"Favorite Island Cookery Book IV," Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, 1985

Crust:
2 cups flaked coconut
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup softened butter

Filling:
1 15-3/4 ounce can crushed pineapple in juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup light rum
1/2 cup heavy cream

Topping:
1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup well-drained crushed pineapple
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup toasted coconut

To make crust: Combine ingredients and press into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch pie pan.

To make filling: Strain pineapple well, reserving 1/4 cup of juice. Sprinkle gelatin over juice; let stand 5 minutes.

Beat egg yolks with sugar. Stir in milk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture coats a metal spoon. Remove from heat, add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Stir in rum. Chill until mixture begins to thicken.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat cream until stiff. Fold whites and cream into cooked mixture. Spoon into crust and chill.

To make topping: Beat egg white until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and pineapple, beating until light and fluffy. Beat cream until stiff; fold into pineapple mixture. Spoon topping over pie in mounds; sprinkle with coconut.

Pineapple Chiffon Pie

"Favorite Island Cookery Book I," Honpa
Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, 1973

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 baked 9-inch pie shell
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

Add gelatin to water and let stand.

Cook yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar, pineapple, lemon peel and juice in top of a double boiler, stirring constantly until smooth and thickened. Stir in gelatin. Remove from heat.

Add salt to egg whites and beat until stiff; slowly beat in remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Fold in hot pineapple mixture. Heap into pie shell and chill until set. Garnish with whipped cream and more crushed pineapple.

Pineapple Sour Cream Pie

"Favorite Island Cookery Book IV," Honpa
Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, 1985

1 6-ounce box vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 baked 9-inch pie shell

Combine pie filling mix, pineapple, sour cream and sugar. Beat at low speed for 1 minute. Pour into pie shell. Chill 3 hours. Garnish with whipped topping, additional pineapple or maraschino cherries, if desired.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Can you help?

Linda Crawshaw is looking for a recipe for lychee jam for her uncle in Thailand. He's been trying to wing it, without success.

Food Stuffs: Morsels

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
By Request, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Food Section,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.