Mango Salsa

This is a fresh, light way to enjoy fresh Mangoes, I had never used, purchased, or prepared a Mango until now, I never knew what to do with them! It turns out they are easy to use. They need to be ripe though before you use them, the sweetness really optimizes once they do, it's just not there if they are not ripe. The flesh of a ripe mango should give a little when pressed, if it doesn't, park it in a paper bag with an apple for a day or two to help speed it's ripening process.

Why does this happen? Apples and bananas and a few other fruits emit ethylene when they ripen, that ethylene gas converts starches to sugars in unripened fruit. Therefore, chemistry was important right?!

Use a paring knife or a vegetable peeler and peel the skin away. There is a pit in the middle of the mango. Slice the fruit away from the pit as you would a peach or an apple. Slice and dice the fruit and combine with other ingredients.

Mangoes are rich in phytochemicals, antioxidants, and nutrients-so eat up, enjoy!




Nancy's Mango Salsa

4 ripened mangoes, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and finely diced (or 1 can of diced jalapenos)
1 tsp ground chipolte pepper powder
1/4 tsp cayanne pepper powder
1 small bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped finely
juice of half of a lemon
juice of two limes
2 tsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and stir thoroughly. Cover and refridgerate overnight so that the flavors can begin to intermingle.

Serve with tortillas chips and something cold to drink.

Homemade Apple Pie

An apple pie from scratch was a scary thought for me a while back-making dough from scratch was the scariest part. However I thought I would give it a try. I broke it down to, if it didn't work, oh well, I'm out flour, shortening, and water. Not really a big loss. However, if I succeeded, it would be much more than flour and shortening and water! It would be small source of pride, knowing that was one more thing I could cross off my list things to try.

I recently purchased a Kitchen Aid Food Processor, and not that this part is necessary, but dough making became a breeze. If you do own one, use it for this, it'll be perfect!

Homemade Apple Pie
(dough recipe from Ina Garten:Food Network)
(Pie recipe is inspired by several sources, mostly of my own measurements)

For the crust:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

For the pie

8 apples, varieties such as granny smith, fuji, or other good baking apples
1/2 cup white sugar
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
lemon juice
4 Tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, then reduce temperature to 375 degrees after pie is in oven.

Mix the nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar together. Incorporate the butter and 4 Tbsp of flour into the sugar mixture. Slice the apples into thin wedges and place in the prepared pie plate. Mound the apples high with the center of the pie being the tallest. As you are piling the apples in the prepared the plate, sprinkle some of the lemon juice and sugar based mixture between the apples.

Place the second rolled out crust over the apples, seal the edges tightly. I found a good website to demonstrate basic pie crust edging here. Create several steam holes for the steam to escape. Brush the top crust with a beaten egg and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.