Mango Chutney - Traditional Style

Last year I made some wonderful peach chutney.  I love it.   Seriously love it. 

I love it over cream cheese on crackers.  I love it even more on brie.   I love it poured over a pork roast and slow roasted for hours until the outsides are crispy.   I love it straight out of the jar with a spoon.

I pretty much thought I was a genius after I made that chutney.   It's some gooood stuff.

I've been thinking about chutneys a lot lately.   Chutneys came from India with strong flavors and textures and heat.   They usually have a fruit base, are heavily sweetened and then the sweet is balanced with vinegar.   I've seen chutneys flavored with cinnamon and cloves, and some with ginger, garlic and mustard.   I've seen chutneys heavy on the heat - with loads of red pepper flakes and some with just a whisper of heat.

In all my reading, the consensus is that a lot of traditional chutneys were made with mango and lime.  Heavy on citrus overtones. Spiced with cinnamon and cloves, with lots of heat.   So I thought I'd play around.

The first thing I decided was that it needed heat, but not heavy heat.    I was thinking more along the lines of cat-in-your-lap kind of heat and not the white hot heat of a thousand suns.    I realize that right off the bat I've deviated from the traditional, but no one at my house would eat it if it is too hot.   We're pepper wimps. 

For citrus, I used the zest and juice of a lime, plus some lemon and orange juice for flavor. 

I used loads of garlic and an onion.

For spice, I used candied ginger, and cinnamon and cloves.  And for the sweet, I opted for brown sugar.  

I used white wine vinegar, because it's my own and I much prefer it over the apple cider vinegar that the vast majority of chutney recipes call for.   I used regular raisins instead of the golden ones that are traditional because that's what I had.    If you want to use golden raisins and cider vinegar instead, then go for it.   I'm sure it will be delicious.

One of the things I like best about chutneys is that they are a slow food.  

Slow.  Food.

You put it in a pot, heat it all together and the cook it until the flavors are melded and the color is dark and mysterious and delicious.   Take your time. 

Mango Chutney

• 4 cups of mangoes, peeled and chopped [about 3 large mangoes]
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• juice of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 orange or 2 clementines
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1/4 cup finely chopped candied ginger
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon mustard seed
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves

Put everything into a large pot and cook it down.   Start it on medium until you read a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer until it's the consistency you want.    It'll be good and thick if you let it cook down until when you scrape a spatula across the bottom of the pan, it leaves an empty space behind it for a couple of seconds before the juices crowd in again.  

When you're happy with it, ladle it into jars and process for canning.  Makes 3 pints.

Note:  Thick is in the eye of the beholder.    If it ends up runnier than you wanted, then use it over meat.   It's probably my favorite way to eat chutney.

To use it on meat, brown and season the meat with salt and pepper, then transfer it to an oven safe pot or pan.  Pour the whole pint of chutney over it and cook it uncovered at 300 degrees until your meat falls apart.   Delicious! 

Mango Bay Lime Jam

The mangoes are still beautiful and I've got a lot of simple herb syrups to use in jam.   It's time to use them together. 

Mango Lime Bay Jam sounds like a party in a jar, doesn't it?

Dude. Break out those steel drums!

I used some of my bay syrup to flavor this jam.  All you do is substitute the syrup for some or all of the sugar in the recipe.    Simple.   Just like the syrup.

You can also use bay syrup to flavor your favorite drinks - alcoholic or not.   A spoonful of this stuff in fizzy water will do wonders for your stress level.    I know.

Coming up later in the week, we'll have Double Lemonade Jelly and Apricot Anise Hyssop Jam.

Mango Lime Bay Jam

• 4 cups chopped and crushed mango
• 1/2 cup [or more] of cold water so that the mango doesn't stick to the pan when you start heating things up.
• 4 Tablespoons Dutch Jell All Natural Lite pectin
• zest of 1 lime
• 1 cup bay syrup

Combine the mango, water, lime zest and pectin in a pot.  Stir well to dissolve the pectin.   Bring to a boil.  Stir constantly until you have a full rolling boil that you can't stir down.   Stir constantly.  Boil for 5 minutes to boil out some of the extra water.  Add the syrup and return to rolling boil.  Stir constantly.  Boil for 1 minute.  Ladle into jars.  Process for canning.  Makes 2.5 pints.

Mango Chai Ginger Jam

Remember the Peach Chai Jam I made?

I just had to try it with mangoes and while I was at it, I decided to add some extra ginger to it. 

Oh. Baby.

It. Was. SOO. Good.

Really.  Really good.


I'll get right to the point.

Mango Chai Ginger Jam

• 4 cups mangoes, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cup Robin's Caffeine Free Chai Juice
• 4 T Dutch Jell All Natural Lite Pectin
• 1/2 cup finely chopped candied ginger
• 2 cups sugar

Combine the mango and chai juice in a pot with the pectin.   Stir well to dissolve pectin.   Bring to hard boil.  Boil hard for one minute.   Add ginger and sugar.  Stir well and bring to hard boil.   Boil hard for one minute.   Ladle into jars.  Process for canning.

Mango Strawberry Mint Freezer Jam

The mangoes are ripe and we've been getting them by the box.    I've been thinking for a long time about mango jam and I spent an entire weekend developing recipes.

You're going to LOVE them.

Seriously.

This jam will improve your life.

You'll sleep better at night, your kids will be smarter, your husband will actually put his dirty clothes IN the wash basket and not next to it.

OK that last one is probably just pushing it.

But I'm absolutely sure that mango jam will improve your breakfast.    And lunch.   And dinner.  And dessert.

Definitely.   Here's what we have coming up:

• Mango Strawberry Mint Freezer Jam
• Mango Chai Ginger Jam
• Mango Bay Lime Jam

It's been hot, so we'll start with the freezer jam.    You'll want to eat it by the spoonful, so make several batches.   See the post from earlier for an easy way to cut mangoes up.

 Mango Strawberry Mint Freezer Jam

• 3 cups crushed mango pieces
• 1 cup crushed strawberry slices
• 1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh mint
• 4 T Ball Instant Pectin for freezer jam
• 1 1/3 cup sugar

Stir the sugar and pectin together well and set aside.     Crush your fruit some more.  Cut up the mint a little finer.   Stir the mint into the fruit.   Stir the sugar/pectin mix into the fruit and stir well for 3 minutes.   Spoon into freezer containers and let sit out for 30 minutes.    Label the jars - you'll want to find these fast.   After 30 minutes, put the containers in the freezer.  

This jam is fabulous on dutch pancakes.  

Note:  3 large mangoes will give you about 3 cups crushed.   Also - don't over-do it with the mint.   You just need a suggestion of mint; you don't want it to take over.

Mango Season!

As I was writing things up for this week, I realized that I've got a whole lot of stuff coming up to do with mangoes.  It's mango season!

It's easy to find beautiful mangoes at your local store these days and there are loads of things to do with them.   Check out yesterday's post for an easy way to cut a mango up into small pieces without shooting it across the room like a bar of wet soap. 


Today I've got a recipe for a Mango Sauce that is so good, it makes a terrific summer soup.

The family did not share my soup enthusiasm.  They liked it as a cool sauce over squash fritters.

I liked it in a bowl with a spoon.  

You can eat it however you want.

Mango Curry Sauce [Soup]

• 1 large mango cut up
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon red curry paste
• a handful of fresh cilantro chopped finely

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor.   Serve at room temperature.  Refrigerate leftovers.   [Not that there will be any.]

How to Cut a Mango Neatly

I've cut a lot of mangoes in my time and at first it was a messy, slimy, slippery proposition.

Eew.

Then my friend, Sharon, showed me how to do it neatly and prettily with minimal slime.

Thank you, Sharon!

This is what you do:

First, cut the sides off the mango.

You'll leave the center section with the seed in it.

Now you have three parts.

Hold the mango in your hand and cut down through the flesh to the skin.   Make your cuts 1/2 inch apart.

Now, turn the mango 90 degrees and cut it again.  

Now, turn the skin inside out.   The mango sections will look sort of porcupine-y.

Put your thumb at the base of a section and push it off the skin into a bowl. 

Easy.   

Push the sections all off the skin.  You might have to work a bit to get the tiny ones off the edges.   It's worth the extra effort.

Now all you have left is the center.   Set it on an end and cut the skin off with a knife.

This is the messiest part - but it's fast!  Once the skin is off, you can score the edges and then cut them off near the seed.  

You'll end up with two empty skins, a small section of peel, a large seed and a beautiful bowl full of bite sized mango pieces - perfect for salads or jams.