One of the foods I will really miss in a collapse is pineapple. I absolutely love fresh pineapple. My family always knows just by looking when the pineapple on the table for a side dish at dinner is good. There isn't very much in the bowl, and I don't serve myself any. Because I already ate most of it and my mouth is sore.
I've already blogged about how to can and dehydrate pineapple so that we can enjoy a little bit of that tropical flavor when we're no longer getting it fresh from overseas. Commercially canned pineapple doesn't have a great shelf-life; it's just too acidic and eats through the can. The shelf-life is even shorter for pineapple canned in those pop-top cans. So as sometimes happens, we find ourselves with cans of pineapple that really need to be rotated. Or, as happened to me last month, the grocery outlet store had #10 cans of pineapple tidbits for a screaming deal. I couldn't pass up getting at least one can. I was planning to go back for more when they passed their best-by date and the store would discount them even more. Unfortunately, we got slammed by snowstorms that week, and I wasn't interested in risking my neck to go out. So other people got the deal on some deep-discounted #10 cans of pineapple.
While this post involves canned pineapple, I'm hoping what readers get out of reading it is more along the lines of thinking outside the box when it comes to food storage. Most people would avoid #10 cans of pineapple, or any canned fruits or veggies for that matter, for putting in their food storage because they don't really need a can that big and the product would spoil before being eaten. At the same time, some would avoid stocking up on pop-top cans, even if they were deeply discounted, because the seals fail pretty quickly. Especially pineapple. Hold that thought.
Earlier this month I was perusing through The Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook by Tammy Gangloff. Included in there were recipes for pineapple coconut crackers and pina colada fruit rolls. She's very much into starting with fresh produce, and I can't fault her for that. I just take a different approach to dehydrating, and I'm pretty happy to start with commercially canned or frozen produce at times. Anyway, I was intrigued by her recipes for crackers and fruit rolls. That's partly because it would be a way of using canned pineapple that was pushing the storage limits, and partly because my husband bought fifty pounds of organic unsweetened shredded coconut ten years ago, and after giving ten pounds away, I still have thirty-eight pounds. (For the record, he did ask my opinion on whether he should buy so much. I thought my answer was a pretty emphatic "no," but apparently not emphatic enough. Because those twenty-five-pound bags normally retailed for over a hundred dollars, and he was getting them for only five dollars.)
So for ten years, I have stored that coconut vacuum-sealed in canning jars. And used barely any. I started sneaking it into bread, but Queen of the Picky Eaters noticed right away and objected. And now that she's off at school, I still can't sneak it in because my oldest, and most adventuresome, eater can't have it.
I finally had two recipes for using up that coconut. Combine that with a #10 can of pineapple (or a lot of smaller cans that need to be rotated). With a little lull in my schedule, I was able to give it a try yesterday.
Piña Colada Fruit Rolls
Makes 24 small fruit leathers
1 cup unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
1 cup canned pineapple, drained, juice reserved
1 cup reserved pineapple juice (add water if necessary to make 1 cup)
2 tablespoons corn syrup (reduce to 1 tablespoon if pineapple juice is sweetened)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Combine everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil two minutes and remove from heat. Cool until the mixture is barely warm. Pour onto two prepared dehydrator sheets or plastic wrap. Spread to about 1/8" thickness and dehydrate at 115-120 degrees.
When fully dry on both sides, yet still pliable, cut each large fruit roll sheet into twelve pieces. Roll each piece on a small section of plastic wrap. Store in an airtight container for short-term usage, or in a canning jar with an oxygen absorber for longer-term storage.
Piña Colada Crackers
1 cup unsweetened flaked or shredded coconut
1 cup canned pineapple, drained, juice reserved
2 cups reserved pineapple juice (add water, if necessary, to make 2 cups)
Combine in blender and blend until very smooth. Pour onto two dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate at 120 degrees for six hours. Remove trays from dehydrator and score each sheet into 2" squares. Dehydrate six to ten hours more, or until very crispy. Store in an airtight container.
Comments: These are very thin and lightly crispy. I really like them, but they didn't do anything for my husband or daughter. However, neither one of them likes coconut very much. (So again, why did he buy fifty pounds of coconut that I didn't really want?) Both of these recipes should make a piña colada-loving person very happy.
Update: I made these again in December 2020. My youngest daughter and I just love both of these. I need to make a whole lot more.
Links to related posts:
Fruit Rolls
Dehydrating Pineapple
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