Easy Entertaining Recipes for Summer La Dolce Vita:
Maple Glazed and Grilled Pineapple (Sweet or Spicy)
We put everything on the grill in the summertime. Literally there isn’t a meal we can’t, won’t or haven’t tried. Everything from griddle pancakes and bacon on the blacktop in the morning; to feeding a hungry pack of children who have just biked back from a morning on the lake with perfectly crispy grilled cheese sandwiches on thick white bread slathered with butter oozing with melted cheddar cheese.
Obviously, dinner time in the summer is almost exclusively served up from the grill. The virtues of grilling in the summer seem endless - it’s quick, easy, easier to clean, and of course, it adds an element of flame grilled flavor you simply can’t get otherwise. Our Dad is even known for making his famous grilled bread in the summer, so when we say we grill everything - we really do mean it!
Of course, while grilling requires very few ingredients to make spectacular meals (one of its most popular characteristics) it does call for the correct tools. Fortunately, as we are quite serious about summertime grilling, it was an absolute must for us to craft such tools. One of the very first orders of business of our recently launched Pappy & Company Woodshop was an essential set of grilling tools.
Versatile, elegantly rustic, and practical, our Barrel Stave Grilling Tools are hand-crafted from genuine, retired Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrels by master artisan Jason Cohen. This 3-piece set reflects the heritage of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon legacy in each piece, and displays a mastery of technique, and high quality craftsmanship we demand from everything we make. Paired with our Pappy Van Winkle Essential Apron: Hadley & Bennett, you will have the tools, the style and the flavor needed to become the master of your own summer grill.
Whether it is smash burgers, ribs (withJulian Van Winkle’s famous BBQ sauce), hot dogs, or freshly caught lake trout straight from Lake Michigan withMaple Marinade, the grill truly serves as our outdoor kitchen for the season. Followed by an assortment of marinated garden veggies, corn on the cob, blistered summer peppers, or thick slabs of garden squash - from start to finish, an entire meal can come right off of the grill.
However, there is a somewhat overlooked option for tossing on the grill that we happen to love - fruit! If you’ve never had grilled watermelon, grilled peaches, grilled plums, grilled pears or grilled pineapple (oh my), you are missing out! Grilled fruit makes a great addition to salads, a delicious mouth-watering summer side, or a dessert with minimal effort but delightfully delicious delivery.
Grilling fruit heightens the natural sweetness as it develops a layer of mouthwatering caramelized flavor and brings out the juicy, ripe and vibrant essence. It pairs beautifully with sweet or savory dishes, or can be served alone. You could top your burger with a caramelized slice of pineapple or peach, serve it alongside grilled chicken for a dinner with tropical flavor, or craft a juicy and rich cocktail with a grilled peach or slice of watermelon.
One of the easiest, and most delicious, fruits to grill is a juicy summer pineapple. Its firm texture holds up well under the heat and its honey-like sweet, refreshing, and tropcial flavor is a perfect accompaniment to natural caramelized effect from the grill. Grilled pineapple is great on its own, but to amp up the delicious factor, we favor ours with a drizzle of our Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pure Maple Syrup, or a surprisingly spicy twist, we use our Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel-Aged Spicy Syrup.
This added element, with its signature notes of Pappy Van Winkle infused charred oak, vanilla, and sweet, buttery caramel will increase the naturally smoky undertones, and highlight the flavors of the sweet, juicy, and tender fruit. The options are endless, and you can play around with a variety of spices or extra dashes of sea salt, cinnamon or sugar to bring out the complex layers of flavor.
Don’t be afraid to serve it for dessert with a dollop of freshly churned vanilla bean ice cream and an additional drizzle of Pappy Van Winkle Pure Maple Syrup, or serve it alongside grilled chicken with Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Barrel-Aged Spicy Syrup for a surprising dash of sweet summer heat. You can cut it in chunks and serve it with toothpicks as a Pappy Hour appetizer, or alone as a summer side dish that is truly bursting with the best of seasonal flavor.
