Hawaiian Night At The Wine Club – Appetizer

For this month’s wine group, the hosts selected a Hawaiian theme and provided the main course of Huli Huli Chicken with the rest of us providing the remainder of the meal.  To go with the chicken we had a salad, rice, dessert, and Bev & I provided the appetizer.  When I think of Hawaiian food, the things that come to my mind are pork and pineapple so after checking the internet and asking a few folks for suggestions, we opted for small kebabs.  We wanted something we could make ahead and at home, keep warm, and make into an interesting presentation and we found this easy recipe on line and it's shown below as written.  I pretty well followed it but I used enough of everything for 30 small kebabs (one piece each of pepper, pork, and pineapple) and a triple recipe of sauce.  I used smaller pieces so that all three items could be eaten from the skewer together.

Pork-and-Pineapple Kebabs - 2 full sized kebabs

Ingredients:

1/2 pound pork tenderloin

1½ tablespoons brown sugar

1½ tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 tablespoon grated fresh onion

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

Dash of pepper

1 bay leaf

8 (1-inch) cubes fresh pineapple

8 (1-inch) pieces red bell pepper

Vegetable cooking spray

Preparation:

Trim the fat from pork, and cut the pork into 8 (1-inch) cubes. Combine brown sugar and the next 7 ingredients (brown sugar through bay leaf) in a large zip-top heavy-duty plastic bag; add the pork cubes. Seal the bag, and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour, turning bag occasionally. (To keep the texture of the pork from becoming mushy, marinate it for no more than 1 hour.)

Remove pork from bag, reserving marinade. Discard bay leaf. Thread 4 pork cubes, 4 pineapple cubes, and 4 bell pepper pieces alternately onto each of 2 (10-inch) skewers.

Prepare grill. Place kebabs on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and cook to a meat temp of 140F, turning and basting frequently with reserved marinade.  Wrap in foil and place in a 145F oven to keep warm until ready to serve.

We elected to cut off a third of a pineapple and stick the kebabs in the remainder of it to serve.

For our wine we served a V. Sattui Dry Riesling that seemed to go well with the kebabs.

The kebabs received very favorable comments and the ten of us ate all but two them.  They worked very well for this event as they were still a little warm when we served them about an hour after removing them from the oven and wrapping in a thick towel to transport.  All of the dishes and wines were very good and, as always, it was a great way to spend an evening.

On a sad note, SIL Pat’s dog, Willie, passed away Tuesday night while at the vets for an unknown illness.  It is very sad for Pat to lose her companion of 12 years.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

3/30/16 meal date