Mango - Love it or Hate it

Mango, love it or hate it it's there several times a year to make us happy. You'd be surprised to find out how many recipes include Mango itself. You'd be surprised that the best Mango's come from Pakistan and recently Australia has been picking up a lot in production and quality as well. Fresh mango season lasts from April until August. I consider myself as fortunate by living in the tropics always guarantees to discover great choices of Mangoes at affordable pricing. In the West a Mango could easily hit $5.50 whereas in South East Asia you could possibly catch a good Mango at approximately $2.50 which is a tremendous bargain! Mango isn't really the King of Fruits, that privilege is already taken by the legendary Durian fruit. All in all Mango is a magic fruit loved by young and old. I happen to do my daily walk a dog and took my camera to record the latest mango season. Parrots attacking the fruits due to its sweetness and its likely one of the birds favorite fruit. Unfortunately it doesn't grow freely everywhere around the globe but here in Singapore you can be assured that a Mango trees succeed like boom town charlie!

A fierce competitor.. some of the Mangoes benefits are:

• Mango fruit is rich in pre-biotic dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and poly-phenolic flavonoid antioxidant compounds.
• According to new research study, mango fruit has been found to protect against colon, breast, leukemia and prostate cancers. Several trial studies suggest that polyphenolic anti-oxidant compounds in mango are known to offer protection against breast and colon cancers.
• Mango fruit is an excellent source of Vitamin-A and flavonoids like beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, andbeta-cryptoxanthin. 100 g of fresh fruit provides 765 mg or 25% of recommended daily levels of vitamin A. Together; these compounds are known to have antioxidant properties and are essential for vision. Vitamin A is also required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in carotenes is known to protect the body from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• Fresh mango is a good source of potassium. 100 g fruit provides 156 mg of potassium while just 2 mg of sodium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure.
• It is also a very good source of vitamin-B6 (pyridoxine), vitamin-C and vitamin-E. Consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals. Vitamin B-6 or pyridoxine is required for GABA hormone production within the brain. It also controls homocystiene levels within the blood, which may otherwise be harmful to blood vessels resulting in CAD and stroke.
• Further, it composes moderate amounts of copper. Copper is a co-factor for many vital enzymes, including cytochrome c-oxidase and superoxide dismutase (other minerals function as co-factors for this enzyme are manganese and zinc). Copper is also required for the production of red blood cells.

Perfect eaten on their own, mangoes are also delicious in salads, paired with chicken, in desserts or grilled on the barbecue. Some special Mango recipes:

Lettuce, avocado and mango salad

Ingredients:

1 green oak lettuce, torn into small pieces
1 large avocado, diced
1 large mango, diced
2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon olive oil
                                                          1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1. Combine lettuce, avocado, mango, almonds and cranberries in a bowl.
2. Whisk oil and vinegar together in a jug. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over lettuce mixture. Toss to combine. Serve.

Low fat mango fool

Ingredients:
150g low-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla custard
2 large ripe mangoes, peeled, roughly chopped

8 pieces almond bread

1.Place ricotta in a food processor. Process until creamy. Pour in custard and pulse until just combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Wash and dry food processor bowl.
2. Process mango until smooth. Reserve 1/3 cup mango puree. Fold remaining mango puree into ricotta mixture.
3. Half-fill four 1-cup capacity glasses with mango-ricotta mixture. Spoon over reserved puree. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes or longer, if time permits. Serve with almond bread.

The Perfect Mousse Au Chocolat

Chocolate mousse has never lost it's attraction of perfect desert to me.. it's basically a mousse that can fit to any type of menue.  Folding method is very crucial and important, don't over whip it, otherwise you will get a chocolate sauce and not mousse. So, treat this mousse as if it's your first date, be gentle to it and love it ! that will guaranty great results! I happen to try mousse au chocolat the first time in 1996 during hotel management school in Switzerland. It was amazing and I was always wondering on how they do it! Now, after many years I have had the privilege to find and try it out myself... a wonder thing that is not rocket science but simply discipline action following the steps that it requires. Celebrity Chefs would certainly become jobless on TV if you follow this recipe and not theirs, TV shows do not always have the best recipe...

Chocolate mousse is all about ingredients and the way you whip the mousse. There are only three ingredients, so they should be fresh and high-quality. Have your bowl and whisk for the egg whites immaculately clean and your cream very cold. If you've done these things, you’ll end up with a rich and perfectly whipped mousse that can kick the ass of any chocolate pudding. Another interesting aspect is that lot's of five star hotels have chocolate mousse on the menue, did you ever noticed that ?

These are the steps that you must strictly follow! Trust me, once you completed the mousse, it can taste even better than sex. So, try it yourself! Here the ingredients and steps!

Ingredients:

5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped1 cup very cold heavy cream
3 large egg whites (no traces of yolk), at room temperature
Sweetened whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Then, the steps!

1. Fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. Place chocolate and 1/4 cup of the heavy cream in a large heatproof bowl. (Place remaining cream back in the refrigerator until ready to use.) Nest the bowl over the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Melt chocolate, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until smooth and combined with the cream. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Place egg whites in a second large bowl and whisk vigorously until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes (make sure the bowl and whisk have no trace of oil or fat, or the whites will not whip properly); set aside. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer.)
4. Clean and dry the whisk (or your beaters if you’re using an electric mixer). Place the remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream in a third large bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer.)
5. Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate, then gently stir in the rest (try not to deflate the whipped cream). Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate-cream mixture just until there are no longer large blobs of whipped cream or egg white (do not over mix).
6. Spoon the mousse or pipe it from a pastry bag into serving cups and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Rien ne va plus! Leave it as it is, don't touch the mousse once these steps are completed! Dont mess it up!