Vintage Eats Recipe: 1967 Chicken Pineapple Bake

It’s a cooler day this morning in my part of the Midwest – 68! But the temps are supposed to get sweltering again by the end of the week.

We had several incidents of rain over the weekend which really helped with our crops and gardens. Thank God for that!

As it is not yet a scorcher of a day, I’m offering a vintage recipe using the oven for a main entrée: Chicken Pineapple Bake.

I found Chicken Pineapple Bake in my copy of Good Housekeeping Casserole Cookbook (1967). Nearly all recipes I try from these GH cookbooks are great. I’m sure they are tried and tested repeatedly before being published in a series. I happen to have a series of 9 GH cookbooks so you can plan to see more from these in future!

As good as the recipe is, I did make a couple of changes.

The recipe calls for a 3-pound chicken, cut up. The problem was, I only had pork on hand and I didn’t want to make a trip to the grocery for chicken.

I knew pork and pineapple work well together so I substituted two pounds of boneless pork for the chicken. The results were great!

I also used pineapple chunks instead of slices as that can of fruit was in my pantry. No problem!

And, as usual, I used butter instead of margarine in equal measure. A good friend who is an expert baker for decades (she made my wedding cake 45 years ago) only uses butter – her practice has rubbed off on me.

Knowing how to successfully substitute ingredients is part of a cook’s necessary repertoire of skills. These ideas only come to me through reading cookbooks and cooking experience and knowing what my family likes and dislikes.

My family really liked this dish so I’m glad to share it with you. It takes some prep but it is big on flavor so it’s worth it!

Chicken Pineapple Bake

2 pounds boneless pork

2/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon celery salt

½ teaspoon garlic salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ cup margarine (I use butter)

1 16-ounce can pineapple, sliced (reserve juice)

½ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

Rinse and wipe meat pieces; pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, salt, celery, garlic, nutmeg in large plastic bag.

Shake meat pieces in flour mix to coat well.

In large skillet place meat and butter; brown meat on all sides.

Place meat pieces in 2.5-quart casserole dish. (I cover mine with parchment paper for easy clean up)

Combine pineapple syrup with soy sauce and sugar; pour over meat.

Cover casserole.

Bake 1 hour or until meat is tender, basting several times.

Saute pineapple slices in margarine left in skillet (add more margarine if needed) until golden on both sides.

Top meat with pineapple slices and cook 15 minutes.

Prep: 1.5 hours                  

Yield: 4-6 servings