Grilled Pineapple with Cardamom Whipped Cream

After that salmon dinner, we were still hungry. Isn't that funny how that works? You spend an hour making an elaborate French dinner (ok, I said it was easy, but it still took about an hour) and after you're done eating it, you're still hungry! But this proved to be a blessing, because it gave me an opportunity to improvise a dessert.

I had a pineapple and so I cut off the top, cut off the bottom and then peeled it with a sharp knife. I cut it into big chunks, around the core, and then heated a cast iron skillet. I threw two of the big chunks in:

I grilled them on all sides until they got some nice color:

I think, if you wanted, you could add butter to the pan or add some sugar to the pineapple to increase caramelization and make it saucier, but I was happy with this more rustic approach.

While the pineapple grilled, I added heavy whipping cream to a bowl, added a sprinkling of sugar and a big pinch of ground cardamom (I got this idea from someone on Twitter: thank you Twitter!) and whisked with a big fat whisk until it was thick:

And that as pretty much it. I piled the cardamom whipped cream on to one side of a plate and added the grilled pineapple to the other side and gave everything one last dusting of cardamom. Here it is again:

Not bad for a quick improvised dessert. And the best part is, you won't be hungry after you eat it! Ok, maybe you'll still be a little hungry. That's what pretzels are for.