Mango Tango - part deux

Last week I posted my recipe for Brazilian Black Bean Mango Stew, so it would be there for folks who attended the Saladmastertm Open House yesterday.  I didn't include a photo last week because I didn't have one.  At the event yesterday I took a photo of the bucket o' stew (9 quarts) just before the ravening horde of attendees swarmed the serving line:

Feijoada is the Brazilian Portuguese name for this quintessential dish.  Like all good homemade dishes, ingredients vary.  The meat can be spicy Portuguese style chourico sausage (not the same as the chorizo that I used, which is a Mexican sausage), shredded or cubed pork, etc.  As you know from last week, I make the dish with the Tofurkey brand chorizo-flavored faux meat.  The citrus factor is often orange wedges, but mango versions are not unknown.


Mango Jam
This recipe is almost as easy as my Ten Minute Marmalades!

I had been wanting to try some mango preserves, and the opportunity came up recently. Lady Sally's tree got a really big crop of fruit on it this year. But strong winds in early May knocked down a couple dozen fist-sized fruit that were just starting to ripen – her tree usually comes ripe in mid-late June and lasts through July.

I hate to see something as delectable as mango go to waste. So I collected a couple dozen of these fallen fruits that were showing signs of ripening, put them in a large brown paper bag, and set them on the counter for a week to ripen.

By the end of the week, some of the fruit were over-ripe and showing mold, so they got tossed. The rest I decided to turn into Mango Jam. Some of these fruit were still pretty bitter, some were sweet, but the mango goodness came through. They were so immature that you could slice completely through the central pit! So I did, and scooped the flesh out from behind the pits. When done, I had 2 ½ cups of flesh, which I chopped up fine, and to which I added a cup of Splendatm (we had a big bag of Splenda on hand, but were low on regular sugar). On the advice of several folks who had posted mango jam recipes, I also added the juice of a lemon and most of the zest as well. Tasting the combination I found it “just right” as Goldilocks said.

I ladled the mixture into my electric skillet, set the temp for 325F and let it cook.  I could have used a pot on the stove top, but it was 92F outside, 79F inside,  and I really didn't want to heat the house.  After about 20 minutes I turned the temp down to 200 and let it keep cooking for at least another half hour. Keep it on the heat until all the water is cooked off, and the surface of the puree takes on a nice glossy sheen. By then it's pretty thick, too. I got about a cup and a half of jam from 2 ½ cups of puree and a cup of sugar substitute.

Spoon the jam into a freshly dishwasher-sterilized canning jar, and let it cool to room temp before refrigerating. The jam will keep in the fridge until it's entirely consumed, or 3 months, whichever happens first. 

This can be a really good recipe to use for those bruised or bitten fruit that you just can't stand to see wasted.  Cut away the bad bits and make some jam!

Mango Hummus
Lady Sally likes a container of hummus and some crackers as part of her lunches.  Last year we found this recipe in the local newspaper, and I adapted it for her.  A little sweet, a little tangy, a lot tasty.  To avoid extra salt in your diet (a GOOD thing), buy dried chickpeas/garbanzos, and cook them up yourself -- a simple process.

1 can chickpeas, about 1-1/2  cups home cooked garbanzos

½ cup diced FIRM mango -  save the thin soupy mango for a smoothie

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tbsp Tahini

about ¼ cup EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).

Combine the first 4 ingredients in blender or food processor until it forms a thick paste. Drizzle the EVOO until you get the smooth consistency you prefer for your hummus. I usually use less than the listed amount of EVOO. Add a bit of fresh cracked black pepper for an additional tang to cut the sweetness, if desired.  You could also add fresh grated nutmeg.

Stay tuned for more Mango Tango next week, when we explore mango and shrimp together...