This meal was a fantastic treat.  Rather than tossing the pineapple skin in the trash, I decided to wrap it around the meat to make for a super juicy and flavorful meal.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Steak

- 1 LB skirt steak

- 1 pineapple

- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

- ½ teaspoon salt

- ½ cup roughly chopped thick cut pancetta

Salad

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 cups roughly chopped red cabbage

- 4 ounces water chestnuts

- 4 ounces baby corn

- 2 ounces bamboo shoots

- 1 cup chopped pineapple

- ¼ cup roughly chopped thick cut pancetta

- ½ teaspoon salt

- ¼ cup beef stock

- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400°.

Cut the top and the base off the pineapple.  Make one ½” slight along the length of one side of the pineapple.  Start at the slit and cut the pineapple skin off in one large piece from the inner fruit.  You will have a piece of skin in the shape of a rectangle.  Reserve the interior fruit for the salad.  Lay the pineapple skin on a large baking dish with the prickly side facing down.   Place the meat lengthwise on top of and in the center of the skin.  Fold up any of the meat that is hanging over the end of the pineapple skin.  Season the meat with the salt and ginger and sprinkle the pancetta on top.  Pull the long edges of the pineapple skin around the meat and use cooking string to tightly secure the pineapple.  You will have something that resembles the shape and size of pork tenderloin.  Transfer the dish to the oven and cook for 15 minutes.  Use tongs to flip and continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cut into 1” slices along the width of the pineapple and meat.  Drizzle each slice with the juices from the baking dish.

While the meat is cooking make the salad.  Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan.  Add the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes or until the bulk of the cabbage reduces by half.  Fold in the water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, pineapple, pancetta and the remaining salt.  Continue to cook for 4 minutes.  Finally, add the stock and the hoisin sauce.  Stir thoroughly and let cook for 2 more minutes.

Serve the salad alongside the pineapple-meat slices and enjoy!   One note, I don’t suggest eating the pineapple skin, just the meat inside.