Stock Up: 3 ways to enjoy pineapple

Ryan Lane likes to say he turned his favorite hobby into his favorite job when he started Lane’s BBQ in the small town of Bethlehem, 9 miles north of Monroe. These days, he’s producing nine flavors of barbecue sauce. We just opened a bottle of his pineapple chipotle sauce, a finalist in the barbecue sauce category of last year’s University of Georgia Flavor of Georgia competition. We immediately loved the combination of sweetness and smokiness from its two namesake ingredients. Lane’s website has several recipes that play up the tropical flavor of the pineapple, including Hawaiian pig shots (bacon-wrapped sausage topped with seasoned cream cheese and served with pineapple chipotle sauce) and Hawaiian chicken skewers that you can prepare in the oven or on the grill. And if you’re looking for an idea for dinner tonight, you might try a sweet tea-brined pork loin finished with this sauce. The recipe for that dish is also on the website.

$8.99 per 13.5-ounce bottle. Available at Atlanta Grill Co., Patton’s Meat Market, Grant Park Market, Intown Ace and lanesbbq.com.

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

Pineapple syrup

Annie Obasih was inspired to start Atlanta-based Annie’s Gourmet Syrup when her daughter was surprised to learn that the pancake syrup she was eating had been made by her mom. Fittingly, Obasih credits her own mother with inspiring her to make syrups. Now, Obasih produces four flavors — mint, jalapeno-honey, lemon and our new favorite, pineapple. She also reminds customers that the syrups aren’t just for pancakes or waffles. You can pour them on biscuits, use them as a glaze for ham or chicken wings, use a little in place of honey on your square of cornbread, or do as we did: Make your iced tea a tropical drink by adding some pineapple syrup and a few cubes of fresh pineapple as a garnish.

$9.99 per 12-ounce bottle. Available at Decatur Farmers Market every other Wednesday, and at anniesgourmetsyrup.com.

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

Watermelon-pineapple salad

Growing pineapple in Georgia would require some pretty specialized conditions, but we do grow lots of blackberries, cantaloupes, figs, mayhaws, muscadines, peaches, persimmons, strawberries and watermelons. “Fruit,” a Savor the South cookbook by Nancy McDermott (University of North Carolina Press, $21), has recipes for all of these fruits, including a delicious Thai-inspired watermelon-pineapple salad based on the author’s experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. What was refreshing in the humid Southeast Asia heat — sweet juicy fruit with a bit of citrus, mint and red pepper flakes — is exactly right for an Atlanta summer, too. This cookbook offers lots of ways to enjoy fruit this summer, and it has us looking forward to peak melon season.

$21 for the hardback, $18 for the paperback. Available at uncpress.org/book/9781469632513/fruit.

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