Friday 25 November 2016

"So, what's this?"

the boy at the checkout asks me.
           "A mango."
           "Oh, my Mum doesn't cook those. Actually she doesn't cook much at all."
He has to hunt for the price code. Weighs it and adds it to my cauliflower and the tomatoes.
         I am silent trying to work out the idea of cooking the mango. 
I had intended it for salad.
The people who work in our local supermarket are often young students. It is store policy to employ them. On the whole it works well. Around exam time there no doubt needs to be some juggling of the rosters and the older staff or the few non-students take over. There is one grossly overweight and  unattractive looking member of staff who usually puts in more hours. It's an effort for her. She has difficulty spending too long on her feet. She can't help her weight. It's an endocrinal condition I think. I know it's medical. I met her in the chemist waiting for a prescription on one occasion and she told me about it. She is often frowning. It puts people off. They avoid her. It's sad because she is actually very competent and knowledgeable. She was the first to commit to memory the new layout of the expanded store. She is the one who can say promptly something like, "Aisle 8, on the left hand side about half way up on the bottom shelf." Most of the staff can give you an aisle number but leave it at that.
She heard the remark about the mango and said to me later, "I hope you stewed it well."
We smiled at each other but I did wonder about anyone believing you needed to cook a mango. His mother "doesn't cook much at all"? I wonder what they eat? He looks healthy enough but how would I know? 
I try to give the Senior Cat a balanced diet in a way which will allow him to enjoy his meals. He's not a big eater. He never has been. These days he eats even less. I don't do desserts as such but I will cut up fruit. I have been known to stew plums and add custard. I don't make pudding, not even for Christmas. The Senior Cat doesn't care for such things and I care even less. 
I don't eat chutney of any sort and the Senior Cat isn't keen on such things either so mango chutney is not part of our diet. Out of curiosity I may investigate recipes which include mangoes.
But - I don't think I will be stewing a mango.
 

4 comments:

Allison said...

My brother and I love this one:

Mango Beef with Cashews

Ingredients:
1 lb of lean beef round or sirloin steak.
1 garlic clove, finely chopped.
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce.
1 tablespoon of rice wine.
1 teaspoon of cornstarch.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2 ripe mangoes.
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil.
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro.
1 oz unsalted cashew nuts, coarsely crushed.
Directions:
Trim any fat from the beef and cut into quarter-inch strips.
Place in a bowl and mix with garlic, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, salt and black pepper.
Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Peel the mangoes and slice flesh off the large flat pit in the middle of each fruit. Cut flesh into thick, even slices, reserving a few small strips for garnish.
Heat the sunflower oil in a nonstick or well-seasoned wok and stir-fry the beef mixture for 4 minutes or until beef is browned all over.
Stir in the sliced mango and cook over a low heat for 3 minutes to heat through.
Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and crushed cashew nuts.
Garnish with reserved mango.
Serve on a bed of rice.

I don't like cilantro so we just use parsley and I prefer it w/o the cashews also. Left over beef works fine. If you don't want leftovers, you should only need a single mango and much less than that pound of beef (I just toss in what we have).

catdownunder said...

Interesting - but I think I'll pass and use the mangoes for afters! (The one we had was lovely.)

Sheeprustler said...

Sometimes when barbequeing simple meat/fish, I barbeque a couple of halved mangoes too. Delicious!!

Jodiebodie said...

Alison's recipe sounds great - I am a big lover of stir fries. I might try that one.
I imagine that Judy's idea of adding barbecued mango to seafood would be delectable as well.
Thank you for sharing your recipes.

Mangoes can be quite expensive so we use them in smoothies so that everyone can enjoy the taste. Besides the usual blending of mango with milk and other fruits like bananas, a mango lassi (I'm not sure of the correct spelling) is a simple, healthy, hearty and refreshing summer drink that we all enjoy.

In the blender goes mango pieces, a couple of heaped tablespoons of plain yoghurt (or more) and top up with milk. I like to garnish with fresh mint or something similarly refreshing but the children don't care for it. One small to medium mango, 2 tbsns yoghurt plus milk to top it up to the 2 cup level makes 2 servings.