March 25, 2012

Mango salsa with lavender honey


Why have I even made this? Mangoes are nowhere near local, but they showed up in ripe little packets at the grocery store and I couldn't avert my eyes. I threw a burrito party (well a "tex-mex" party) but it was kind of hard to come by many of the standard ingredients such as corn tortillas and seranno chilies and good salsa, and sigh.

I've made mango salsa, peach salsa, strawberry-kiwi salsa, pineapple salsa, chipotle salsa, and just regular pico de gallo. Keep combining and trying until you find something you like. Tomatoes (or fruit), some onions or garlic for bite, bell peppers to increase volume, cilantro, a bit of salt, and lime juice for balance, and any kind of chili pepper for heat.

This is a chop and dump recipe. Chop everything finely (or food process) and then add to a medium sauce pan.  Heat up to get everything set. It will last up to a week in the fridge; it stores excellently in the freezer.

I cut everything by hand, but I'm sure if you have a food processor it would make everything easy.

Mango salsa with a touch of lavender honey
Yield: about 2 cups or more.

Ingredients:
1 jumbo ripe mango, or at least 2 medium ones, finely diced
3/4 cup very finely chopped red and green bell peppers
2 shallots, finely diced
1-2 serrano chilies, remove all seeds and veins using a knife and a small spoon (grapefruit spoons work very well); alternatively plastic gloves are a good choice. Discard the seeds and veins, but don't throw them in the sink because once you turn the water on the spices can aerosolize and make you cough badly.
1 tsp or less salt
juice of 1 small-medium lime, and a bit of grated lime zest
1 tsp of lavender honey (any honey will do fine)
2 tbsp or more chopped cilantro
splash tequila (optional)

Directions:
Put everything in a pot and heat up gradually over medium-high heat. I let it cook 10 minutes. If you leave it the bell peppers lose a bit of color. Adjust for salt, and stir in the honey once it's cooled down a bit. I funnel the salsa into glass jars and store remainders in the freezer.


2 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I will have to try this. The chilies have been planted. Our cilantro from last year is coming back full force. We have a lime or two hanging out from this past season too! This could be canned to last longer as well if a large amount is made??

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  2. I wonder about canning it, probably heat treatment? I haven't ventured into canning thing yet but I would love to try. Let me know if you do it/research it. Love that you have loads of cilantro!

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