Mango Monday

Apparently, I'm terrible at sticking to my 'write daily' schedule, because it is now Thursday and I am finally posting Mango Monday. You have to give me some credit, however, as I did almost all of the peeling, pitting, dicing and cooking on Monday. When I arrived home from work, at 6:15, I went straight to the kitchen to start the production. An hour later, I had a slimy, sticky, yellow goo covering my hands, shirt and face giving me the appearance of a 1 year old on her birthday after she devoured her Big Bird cake. I'm pretty sure that I had the same dazed, sugar-high induced smile, and had I been smart, I would have put myself down for a nap. By 8:00 pm, I was sprawled on the couch, clutching my cramping stomach, groaning curses at mangoes and the ravenous affect they have on me. "It is your fault, Mango!" It started innocently as I ate stray mango pieces that were too small or had fallen onto the counter from the cutting board, but by the end of the night, I was a gluttonous hyena feverishly chopping at the pits trying to consume every last fragment of flesh.

How did I get into this predicament? Well, Gareth and I bought a case of 12 sweet mangoes for 50 cents each and had to do something with them quickly. Naturally, we turned them into tasty treats before they could start fermenting on us. We dried a few, chutney'd a few and attempted to make the rest into 'muffins'.

Dried Mangoes

I started the evening slicing mangoes to to be dried. My intentions of using a dehyrdator were twarted, so I opted to give the oven a try. The mangoes that came out the best were about 1/4 inch thick and as long and wide as possible. I placed them in the oven at 150 degrees F for 5 hours leaving the oven door cracked with a wooden spoon. When I took them out, they were dry without being crispy and they peeled off of the cookie sheets nicely. They were not perfect, but they taste great and will make a great hiking snack...quick sugars. Next time, I will line the cookie sheets with wax paper to make clean-up easier.

Mango Chutney

The chutney was good, but not the best ever. It comes from a cookbook called Indian Cookingby Beverly Leblanc. It was a bit too vinegary for my taste, which is saying a lot because I LOVE vinegar. Next time, I'll use 3 tbsp of vinegar instead of 5. I realize now that I was supposed to let the chutney chill and stew in the refrigerator for two days before eating it. Gareth liked it regardless.

1 large mango chopped finely

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp oil

2 shallots

1 garlic clove

2 green chilies, seeded

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

5 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

5 tbsp white wine vinegar

pinch of ground ginger

1) Put mango in nonmetallic bowl with lime juice and set aside

2) Sauté shallots in the oil for 3 minutes and then add garlic and chilies. Cook until shallots are soft, but not brown. Add mustard and coriander seeds and stir.

3) Add the mango/lime mixture to the pan with remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes until the liquid thickens and the mango becomes sticky.

4) Let cool completely and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Mango Muffins

I managed to mash the mangoes before I started to feel sick, and did the rest Tuesday morning. I discovered that we did not have muffin tins anywhere in the hostel and left the mix to Gareth to experiment with. He made a few 'pancakes' which were basically really gooey cookies and he made a 'cake' that turned out quite well. Even though his treats were scrumptious, I think muffins would still work the best with this recipe. Note to self: Add muffin tins to the shopping list.

1 cup mashed mango

1 large banana

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of coriander

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of cloves

Pinch of cumin

1) Preheat the oven to 375 F

2) Mix wet ingredients

3) Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl

4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and stir quickly. Do not over mix. Clumps are good when it comes to muffins!

5) Place in greased muffin tin and put in the oven for 20-24 minutes. Voila!