So I know last week I was harping on about the need to eat seasonally. Often times I do cheat because well, we’re in Pullman, and I’m lazy.

That being said, my recent venture into the fruit aisle at the supermarket demonstrated just why buying somewhat seasonal produce does pay off. Those blood oranges I mentioned previously were so good, with their deep purple color and a citrus flavor that just had a lot more depth than your regular navels.

With that in mind, I decided to get a pineapple. The tag did say it was “sweet, and ready to eat” – oooh I thought, perfect to bring some of the tropic into my perpetually too cold of a house.

Alas, and although one can buy pineapple year-round, I should by now, learn to not sucker myself into such blatant marketing, but the labels I tell you!

As you can imagine, the pineapple was not sweet, granted, it wasn’t a horrible piece of fruit, but it wasn’t the equatorial getaway I had imagined.

I don’t doubt that many of you out there have bought less than subpar fruit, either an offending too hard peach, a fiercely acidic apple, or pale tasteless strawberries that makes me questions as to why supermarkets even bother selling them.

There are a few ways to overcome this drastic issue with the most obvious making jam. This does require a decent amount of fruit though to really get any sort of meaningful quantity depending on how much jamming your lifestyle demands.

The good news is that sweetness can be adjusted very easily, but I like to start off very roughly for a ratio of 60-65 percent fruit, and the remaining sugar by weight. Simply chop everything up into small pieces, dump sugar and fruit into a pot, and just let it simmer slowly until you think it’s been cooked and reduced enough.

Your jam will be a little loose compared to the store bought stuff unless you get your hands on some pectin or gelatin. It doesn’t really need it though for the homemade stuff is great with plain Greek yogurt and definitely perks up any PB&J.

Get crazy with your jam and mix fruits or add certain spices you feel make a good pairing (strawberries and a little bit of black pepper, no joke). In addition it’s also a great technique to utilizing fruit that is starting to turn.

Another versatile way to attack this conundrum of unripe and unseasonal eating is to cheat by applying dry heat, i.e., panfrying, (you could also roast and grill). Some fruits take to all these methods really well, like a pineapple, but an orange not so much when grilled nor do blueberries, which will probably fall through the grates.

We’ll focus on the pineapple today because that’s what I have in my fridge. To prepare it for cooking peel it with a knife by running down the blade along the sides being careful to not cut too deeply into the flesh if not you’ll just be eating the core.

Cut accordingly to whatever size and shape you like. Although for all purpose usage I like to quarter the technically botanical berry, allowing you to then cut off the inner tough fibrous core. Pineapple rings are stupid.

That being said, cut a bit off and taste the core – your threshold for fiber and blandness maybe different from mine so you might want to keep more of it (yay for yields!).

The four large segments can then again be cut down further for whatever utilization you decide – pie perhaps, or maybe in a “cooked” fruit salad, go nuts (oooh add crushed nuts later on for texture).

Anyway back to the heat application: in a skillet of appropriate size heat to medium with a tablespoon of sugar or honey and a tablespoon of olive oil or butter depending on your preferences. Get fancy by adding a sprig of thyme or rosemary, and if you’re feeling fly, a vanilla pod slit open with the seeds scraped out (extract works also, ½ a teaspoon).

Cook this mixture for a few minutes and it will slowly make a caramel. At this point add your pineapple and whatever other fruit, stir to coat and cook for 3 or 4 minutes depending on how soft you like it. Finish with a little squeeze of lemon juice, and just a touch of salt.

Deploy as necessary perhaps as already mentioned pie filling, or put a layer of puff pastry over the skillet (assuming it’s ovenproof) and bang it into the oven for a quick pastry-like concoction. You could also use it as a garnish with ice-cream, plain yogurt, or as a component toward angel food cake or something similarly vanilla (as in plain like “Yo that shirt is totes vanilla”).

This may or may not satisfy any pineapple express-like symptoms.