Health fads and indulgence treats - you do you

I've been on a roll with roasting stone fruit, lately. I grab my plums, my peaches, my nectarines, my apricots, I de-stone them, toss them in a roasting tray, add a few apples, drizzle some good ole' Port wine, a scatter of brown sugar, tiny dollops of fresh butter and it's good to go. If I have pineapple around, I'll toss some of it in too. Let it roast until bubbly and golden, enjoy with homemade icecream, homemade yogurts, or with nothing else at all. Fruit this way tastes perfect eitheir piping hot from the oven or really cold from the fridge. And the days have been so hot eating cold fruit has become a must. I depend mostly on the fruit's natural sugars to come out while roasting, so I do use a very sparing amount of sugar in it. Just to give it a sense of healthy, you know. Actually, I really hate how people toss that word around so freely: healthy food and healthy eating and healthy cooking have become synonims for no meat, no dairy, no gluten, no sugar. Well, it may be healthy for people who happen to have intolerance issues health wise when it comes to these items. But it sure ain't healthy for me, I have no intolerances.

I do need my gluten, and I use refined sugars sparingly, I do. I also need my dairy, and I'm not gonna stop drinking milk, cow's milk. Once I got told off by some jerk who said I shouldn't drink cow's mik because I wasn't born of a cow. I asked him if he was born of a lettuce to eat salads... never go any answer to that one. Look, moderation is key, as far as I am concerned. And common sense as well. Fads are only that, fads, unless you happen to have health conditions that force you into special diets. Of course if you are vegan or vegetarian by choice, that's your prerogative, and kuddos to you for following your own path and your beliefs. I have my own. And those are stemmed in the belief that everything in moderation will do just fine. So yeah, you will find me eating spoonful after spoonful of proper vanilla custard like there's no tomorrow, ripe with cow's milk and sugar and eggs, but you wil also find me gobbling down a pot of coconut custard - I swear it almost happened, it's THAT good - where I used only coconut cream/milk. You will find me drooling over a barbecued fish that has only a scatter of sea salt over it as well as a really good game pie or roast, or a pulse salad. What you will never find me doing is stating that this is healthy and that is not, or passive aggressively implying my cooking and my eating choices are healthier than yours.

I really can't stand that, the way certain people are so self entitled in a really smug way, know what I mean? How they subtly throw out at the world that they're better than the rest of us un-illuminated jerks out there who don't know how to live a proper lifestyle. Especially when one can read in between the lines so well to realise this is the way they found of attracting more followers, more numbers, incresing statistics because it's a fad nowadays to claim this is healthy and that is not. Then they go and substitute certain products with others where you only have to read the list of shit that gets thrown into making them to know healthy is the furthest thing from that product, and it really has a lot of bad stuff in it. But because it's a fad, they throw around the word healthy and lo and behold! world bows down to their wisdom. Healthy is not denying yourself a simple pleasure - as long as it's within the law, of course - healthy is also indulging and partaking of what your cravings tell you too, as well as your appetites. With due moderation. Healthy to me is a varied pantry and fridge. But that's for me, and it may not be for you. I will never state my life choices are better than yours, they're mine, they serve my goals and my personality. You do you, and I'll applaud you for being your own person. Not for going after fads and trying to blend in with what's trending now.

Truth is, maybe this dessert isn't the healthiest choice you could make - like my roasted stone fruit, I mean, fruit is better au naturel, we all know that. - maybe this is a decadent delight at best, but hey! You're not gonna make this everyday, are you? Still, make it now, make it at least once, you'll be over the moon with the slight caribbean vibe of this dessert, and you'll feel like you're on some sort of dream vacay. Here's how:

For the coconut custard:

• 400 ml coconut milk/cream (canned)
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract - not mandatory
• 3 or 4 tbsp brown or yellow sugar

On a bain marie heat up the coconut milk until it's simmering. Add the vanilla and stir, take it off the heat. On a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and temper with the coconut milk, one tablespoon at a time, until it's perfectly safe to add the egg mix to the rest of the coconut milk. Whisk and bring it to the bain marie once more, stirring and whisking constantly until it thickens. Reserve.

For the roasted pineapple:

• 1 large, ripe pineapple
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 50 gr butter
• 2 tbsp rum

Turn on the oven at 200º. Wash the pineapple and cut the top of it. With a sharpened knife, cut around the inside to detach the fruit from the shell. Scoop it out with a spoon, discard the middle part of it which is tough and woody, cut the rest into cubes. Toss them in a bowl, mixing the rum, sugar and butter with it, then place it all back into the pineapple skin. Put it on a baking tray and roast the pineapple for circa 30 minutes. Once this time has elapsed, bring out of the oven, allow to rest for ten minutes and serve with the coconut milk custard. It's really like eating a piña colada for dessert, and you'll fancy yourself out there on one of those paradise beaches...