Shredded Mango

I am completely exhausted.  I cannot even think how I got through the week, but I must have because here I am.  I'm hoping this week will be kind.

My weekend was quite busy.  I worked on Friday night at a game.  Since it was late, I ended up with my favorite fast food dinner. . . monster taco and curly fries from Jack In The Box.  Yummm.

The Help and I sped off to Kona on Saturday afternoon, hoping to beat the closing time of a lighting store near Costco.  We made it, but the store did not have what we needed.  Now I need to decide what I'm going to do about my dining room lights.  Currently, the lights I have are unusable.

I felt a little guilty about dragging The Help to Kona on his birthday, but he was nice about it.  We ended up buying food for his birthday dinner.  Costco is the only place I know of on the Big Island where you can buy prime beef.  Costco parking lot was crazy, and the inside was just as bad.  For the second trip in a row, I was unable to locate beef brisket.  With the warm weather, I'd like to smoke a brisket soon.  I meant to go back to the seafood kiosk for giant prawns, but by the time I remembered, I was out of the store and didn't have the gumption to brave the masses once again.  Next time I will remember.  I need to get my fill of crab, lobster, and shrimp before D1 gets home.  I don't want to be party to tempting fate.

One thing which paid off this week was having leftover ham from the weekend.  It was nice to come home, knowing dinner was gonna be easy.  You can do lots of things with ham.  I made chowder, quiche, and, of course b-f-d.  I didn't bother cooking much this past weekend (remember the craft projects needed to be finished) so I won't be as lucky this week.  I'm hoping Aloha Mondays will have something I can eat (no mustard or wasabi).

During the first part of spring break, I ordered a handful of craft books.  Only 2 have arrived, so I've been diligently reminding The Help to stop off at the mailboxes daily.  On one of the stops (I make him get the mail while D2 and I look for our friend the green anole), I noticed a bunch of small, unripe fruit on the mango tree in the backyard of the corner house.  Later, when I looked at fb, I saw that a friend had posted a pic of pickled mango.  I guess GREEN mango season is here.

I love green mango season even more than ripe mango season.  While pickled mango makes a kick ass snack, my favorite mango snack is shredded mango.  Making shredded mango is a bit more labor-intensive than pickled mango, but the results are definitely worth it.  And with all the publicity about the shit that people find in imported preserves, making your own is the way to go.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Shredded Mango

     10-12 green mangoes, peel and slice in 1/4" thick strips

     4 tbsp rock salt, divided

     1 1/4 c turbinado (raw) sugar

     1 lb brown sugar

     1 tsp grated orange rind

     1/4 tsp red gel food coloring

     1 tsp 5-spice

In a large bowl, sprinkle mango strips with 2 tbsp rock salt.  Toss gently.  Cover and let sit overnight.  Rinse mango strips and drain well.  Place mango strips in large pot and add 2 tbsp rock salt, turbinado sugar, brown sugar, orange rind, food coloring, and 5-spice.  Bring to a boil.  Cook for 30 minutes on medium heat (gentle boil).  Cool completely before packing.

Tapioca and Coconut Milk Dessert

Now that the weather is getting warmer (actually got to go swimming yesterday. . .water temperature was 84 degrees), I'm looking forward to cool salads and desserts (of course, I'll never pass up a slice of cake).  No doubt, we're entering the season of outdoor eating.

As the potlucks and gatherings ramp up, consider making this refreshing dessert, especially if you want something to complement fruit.  This dessert can be made ahead of time, and can be easily increased or decreased by varying the amount of fruit.

I love this with mango (as pictured), but when mango is not in season, I usually have The Help make a fruit salad:  melon, orange supremes, apples, maraschino cherries, grapes (I won't eat), blueberries, strawberries, etc.  The juice that comes out in the process of making orange supremes is enough to keep the apples from turning brown.

Purple Okinawan sweet potato can be substituted for fruit.  Steam a small sweet potato until soft, then peel and dice. 

I like this dessert on the thick side (like the pictures), but some people prefer it to be more soup-like.  If you prefer more of a soup instead of a pudding, add a few ice cubes to the tapioca before transporting.  The ice cubes will keep things nice and cold until serving time.  If you're in a hurry to thin the tapioca, use ice chips instead of ice cubes. 

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Tapioca and Coconut Milk Dessert

     7 c water

     1 c tiny pearl tapioca (size of pin head)

     1 1/2 c sugar

     1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk

     fresh fruit or cooked purple sweet potato, diced into 1/2" pieces

Bring water to a rolling boil.  Add tapioca.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.  Turn off heat and let stand for 20 minutes.  Add sugar.  Cool for an hour.  Add coconut milk.  Refrigerate overnight.  Just before serving, combine with fruit (and juice) or sweet potato.