Barefoot Bloggers...Mango Banana Daiquiris

Today is Barefoot Thursday! That day when food bloggers near and far all prepare a delicious recipe created by the beloved Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten. Why don't you join us?

Not sure if anyone noticed but in bit of overzealous excitement (it was my turn to choose) I posted this last Thursday. Then I surfed around fellow barefoot bloggers blogs and noticed not a single one posted. Why? Because I was a week early!! Ooops! This week's recipe is for Mango Banana Daiquiris and they were just the island treat I needed. I am a mango freak...I love them! I could eat them breakfast lunch and dinner and now I can drink them in between.

When I selected this week's recipe (yes! it was my turn to choose) I knew that I would just be getting back from our Caribbean cruise and I just knew I would need a little something to bring me back to the islands if only for just a few moments! It was unfortunate that my drink was not served to me as I lounged on my deck chair by the pool or that I didn't have fabulous Daiquiri glasses to serve them in, but they were nevertheless delicious. I prepared one batch with the rum for the adults and one batch sans liquor for the kiddies. I have to say I would love to drink one of these every morning (without the rum of course!).



Here's a few super tips on selecting mangoes from your supermarket:

Look for mangoes with multiple colors-reds, yellows and a touch of green on
them.
Mangoes should give slightly when you press on them...not too much
though as you don't want them to be mushy.
Avoid mangoes with blemished skin, try to find smooth, undented fruit.

Mango Banana Daiquiris

By Ina Garten


2 cups chopped ripe mango (1-2 mangos, peeled and seeded)
1 ripe banana, chopped
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (4 limes)
1/4 cup sugar syrup*
1 1/4 cups dark rum
Mango slices for serving


Place the mango, banana, lime juice, sugar syrup and rum in a blender and process until smooth. Add 2 cups of ice and process again until smooth and thick. Serve ice cold in high ball glasses with mango slices.


*to make simple syrup, heat 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Chill.

Here's a little St. Thomas shot...ahhhhh...I need to go back...

Caribbean Chicken with Roasted Jalapeno Mango Sauce

When I hear the expression "food of the Gods" the first thing that pops into my mind is mango. Mangoes with their luscious flavor and bright orange color are among my very favorite foods.

A spicy mango sauce made with a roasted jalapeno, citrus and Crisco-Puritan canola oil with Omega-3 DHA is the highlight of my Caribbean chicken dish that is a finalist in the Crisco Live Smart Cook Smarter contest! Please follow this link to see all the finalist recipes and if you would be so kind...cast a vote for my recipe (Caribbean Chicken with Roasted Jalapeno Mango Sauce-Veronica, Connecticut). Voting ends this Sunday.

My recipe, one of five finalists in the contest, is a family favorite...not too spicy and not too sweet. Don't let the jalapeno in there fool you-while it adds wonderful flavor it does not necessarily have to add a lot of heat. After roasting the pepper and carefully removing the skin, use a sharp knife and remove all the seeds and all the membranes. Of course if you like a lot of heat just go ahead and leave some seeds and membranes in there.

Here is the recipe...the photo below is the one taken by the Crisco folks-what a difference a food stylist makes!!

Caribbean Chicken with Roasted Jalapeno Mango Sauce
1 jalapeno pepper
1 cup diced mango
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 shallot, peeled
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons Crisco Puritan Canola oil
1 lb. boneless chicken tenders
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place the jalapeño pepper on a small baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Place the roasted pepper in a small plastic bag for at least 5 minutes to loosen the skin. Carefully remove the skin from the pepper and remove seeds and stem. In a food processor or blender combine the pepper, diced mango, orange juice, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shallot and 1 tablespoon of cilantro; process or blend until smooth. Add 1/4 cup of the Crisco Puritan Canola oil and process or blend until well combined; set aside

3. Place the chicken in a shallow dish add the remaining lime juice and stir to coat; let sit for 15 minutes. In the bowl of a food processor combine the remaining salt, oats, coconut, cayenne pepper and black pepper; pulse 5 or 6 times until combined. Spread oat mixture onto a small plate or a sheet of waxed paper. Whisk the egg whites in a shallow dish until foamy.

4. Remove the chicken from the lime juice and pat dry. Dip each chicken tender first in egg whites and then roll in the oat mixture to completely coat. Place the tenders on a baking sheet and drizzle the 2 teaspoons of Canola oil over each tender. Bake chicken tenders in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the chicken cool for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a serving platter.
5. To serve, spoon a few tablespoons of sauce onto a serving plate, top with two chicken tenders and garnish with the remaining cilantro.

Yield: 4-6 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes

Tomato, Avocado & Mozzarella Stack with Mango-Cilantro Dressing

My next door neighbor told me once (in her delightful British accent) that she hates when she makes a recipe that calls for some particular ingredient, say cilantro, and you only use a bit of it. But when you are at the supermarket you can't just buy a bit of it you need to buy the whole bunch. What are you to do with all the leftover cilantro?

My most recent recipe was for a grilled scallop salad that was drizzled with a cilantro dressing. Well, I had quite a bit of leftover cilantro and when I bought the mangoes they were 3 for $4.00 So I have one of those left as well. In the interest of not wasting food I thought I would put something together that would make good use of the leftovers.

This salad calls for fresh mozzarella. I am fortunate enough to have a (super) supermarket that makes mozzarella cheese fresh right in front of you in the store (it's quite fun to watch). When I bought it the other day it was still warm and wrapped up right in front of me...it melts in your mouth. Basically what I'm trying to say is try if you can to get fresh mozzarella cheese, the texture is just so much better than the prepackaged variety and worth the bit extra you may have to spend.

I thought of this after I ate the salad, but it would have been really good with thin slices of the mango added. The mango in the dressing really made this salad pop-I hope you think so too.

Tomato, Avocado & Mozzarella Stack with Mango-Cilantro Dressing

1 avocado, peeled and thinly sliced

2 Large tomatoes, thinly sliced

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Coarse salt, such as French Grey salt or sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:

1/4 cup diced mango

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 tablespoon cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Fan 4 slices of avocado on each of four salad plates. Layer the tomato and mozzarella cheese (you can add a bit of dressing between each layer if you would like) on top of the avocado, evenly dividing and ending with tomato. Fan 2 small slices of avocado on top of the tomato. Sprinkle each salad with the cilantro and drizzle with a generous amount of the dressing. Season each with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

For the dressing: combine the mango, lime juice, olive oil, shallot, cilantro, salt and pepper in a blender container or small food processor; blend until smooth.

Yield: 4 stacks

Yummy Yummy Chinese Food

I have always wondered how Chinese restaurants come up with their names. Some seem to just use the "Chinese-iest" name they can think of, you know to lure you in with authenticity: like Chang Jiang or Ming Bao. Others just seem to use Chinese things like Jade or Green Tea or The Great Wall. But by far the best Chinese restaurant name I've ever seen has to be "Yummy Yummy Chinese Restaurant".

Go ahead, Google it.

You won't believe how many restaurants come up that have that name. I have to ask my brother who speaks Chinese if that is code for something in Chinese or if it's just the restaurant owner's way to convince you that yes, the food is in fact yummy, yummy. I think I would equate it to a laugh track on a TV sitcom...am I so stupid I don't know when to laugh or is the show so not funny, but they're trying to convince me that all these other people are laughing so I should be too.

Well they can call it Yummy, Yummy, Delicious, Delicious or anything they want and I will still probably never be a big fan of Chinese food. That being said though, my husband is a big fan. He is always trying to convince me to cook Chinese food. So every once in awhile I crack out the bottle of "Yummy, Yummy" soy sauce and see what I can come up with.

At Target Greatland the other day I found this really cute packaged Chinese food that is put out by Chef Ming Tsai under his Blue Ginger line. I'll be honest, it was the cute boxes that caught my eye. I bought the Sesame Almond Noodles. They are shelf stable, microwavable Asian entrees and appetizers that have been around for a couple of years, but I seemed to have just noticed them.

The noodles could not have been easier, just pop in the microwave for a minute or so and you are set. I made an Asian Mango Chicken "Stir Fry" to go with it (I had a bit of leftover chicken from my French Chef Chicken and Potatoes). My husband thought that both the noodles and the chicken were indeed Yummy, Yummy.

Asian Mango Chicken “Stir-Fry”

1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
1 shallot, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, minced
1 cup diced mango
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1/4 cup red pepper seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil
Pinch red pepper flakes
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Add the shallot and jalapeno and cook, stirring, until tender.

Stir in the mango, chicken, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and lime juice; cook until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Stir in the cilantro, basil, red pepper flakes. Add salt or additional soy sauce to taste.

Yield: 2 servings