Easy Mango Sauce #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: It seems to be mango season around Key West. Being a good detective, I make that deduction when I see piles of them at the now weekly farmer's market at Bayview Park. 


The market showcases plenty of great produce, but lots of my favorite vendors are there, too, like Mozzarella Mark and the Pickle Baron. 

And also there's a guy who sells irresistible gumbo, and another stall selling Indian food, and olives and smoothies and all kind of cheese.

Anyway, the piles of mangoes launched me on a mango theme. You might have noticed the sauce I served alongside the almond cake last week. Now here's how to make it. It could not be easier.

Ingredients

1 Mango
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 Tbsp orange juice

Peel one ripe mango and cut away the flesh from the weird hard core. Since you are basically pureeing the fruit, you don't have to worry about making it pretty.

Drop the mango into the food processor with 1 tablespoon powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon orange juice. Whirl it until smooth. That's it!

I would serve  this with ice cream, a plain cake, or even mix it with some plain yogurt and voila--smoothie.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series.


 Fatal Reservations, the sixth book in the series, will be in bookstores on July 7, but you can certainly order it now!

How to Make Fresh Mozzarella #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I attended a seminar on making mozzarella at the Restaurant Store in Key West this fall. (And by the way, if you visit Key West and are a foodie and/or cook, you will be thrilled to find this store!) Mozzarella Mark is a cheese specialist and we all enjoyed watching the cheese emerge from the brine, and then sampling the fresh cheese and the various ways he put it together. (I wanted to let you guys know that I don't really expect you to make this mozzarella. You could but I don't expect it.) One of the problems with my translation is that I was chatting with a friend during the class and didn't pay close, close attention. (Oh my gosh, this sounds so much like my college career.) And then the more I studied Mark's recipe, and the more I thought about the quantities of ingredients he pulls together, the more I thought you should buy your fresh mozzarella, LOL, and then use it to make delicious dishes. But I'll show you how he did it, and then you can decide. Ingredients:  Boiling water 5 pounds curd Salted water Break the five pounds of curd up into little pieces: Gradually add boiling water, but not too much or you'll kill the curd: Gather the cheese into a mass, stretching edges, lifting and pulling: Cut portions into balls and soak them in brine for 12 to 17 minutes: Wouldn't he make the best character ever?? He looks so suspicious... One of my favorite (and also easy) dishes using mozzarella involves slicing the fresh cheese, slicing a ripe avocado, and slicing a ripe tomato or two. Arrange the alternating slices of tomato avocado and mozzarella on a pretty plate, and then if you wish, sprinkle them with a dusting of red pepper flakes and good olive oil.  You might also want to dice a couple of fresh basil leaves and sprinkle that over the top. Or now I'm thinking even a spoonful of capers would look nice on this arrangement. And a drizzle of balsamic vinegar if that floats your boat... You can tell from the recipes I've presented over the years that I use mozzarella unlocked. To read my recipe for pesto, tomato, and fresh cheese pizza click here.  Or the easiest fresh pasta sauce in the world click here. But the bottom line is try with all your might to avoid the rubbery supermarket mozzarella. Fresh out of the pan the way Mark makes is best, but in the fresh cheese section of your food market, you can find BelGioioso brand, which I like quite well. Lucy writes the Key West food critic mysteries:  DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS is here now! Follow Lucy on Pinterest. Or Twitter. Or Facebook.