Tango with Mango: Fresh Salsa

This Monday marked the first official day of summer, so I'm celebrating with summer's official food: salsa.

I love salsa like some people love their immediate families. My absolute favorite salsa is Newman's Own mango. Paul Newman knew what he was doing for sure. A few months ago, I wrote to the good people at Newman's Own and informed them that if I wasn't already married to Ben, I would probably propose to their salsa. A customer service representative emailed me back and said she hoped Ben wasn't the jealous type because she was sending me the coupons. Ben managed not to be too threatened.

And while salsa in the jar is good, fresh salsa is better. Here's my version. I went light on the tomato because I didn't want to overwhelm the other fruits, but experiment and see what tickles the old taste buds.

Fresh Mango Salsa

• 1 medium mango, peeled and diced
• 1 to 2 cups fresh pineapple, diced
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 4 T. scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 to 2 T. fresh ginger, grated
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 to 3 T. rice vinegar
• 1 T. honey
• 1 c. black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tomatoes, chopped

Mix it all together. Give it an hour in the fridge. Procure some chips. And that's it.

The food: Fresh mango salsa
The verdict: Makes Paul proud. Does not make Ben jealous.

What Did You Put in This? The Black-and-White Brownie

When our small group Bible study got together for a cookout earlier this month, I needed some non-fussy desserts.  I ended up making Karly's eclair cake (easy! tasty!) and a batch of black-and-white brownies.  They're basically blondies with melted and cooled white chocolate creamed into the butter and sugar mixture.

It was an interesting idea, but I can't say I've become a fan.  The white chocolate taste was kind of faint -- just enough to make you say, "Huh, what's that?"  But not really in a good way.

If you'd like to experience the "what is going on here?" brownie, you can find the recipe, courtesy of King Arthur Flour, here.

Daffodil Cake (no, there aren't real flowers in the recipe)

For those of you who live in regions where early May is still spring and not blazing-hot summer (sorry, Raleigh readers), you might want to celebrate the season with a daffodil cake. It's angel food cake with a denser bottom layer (you add in egg yolks) and an orange glaze.  (Which is always my favorite part. I've been known to lick the serving platter after the cake is gone.  But I do it very demurely.)

If you're not up to making your own angel food cake batter or if you're pressed for time, you could cheat and use a box mix.  Angel food isn't tough to make from scratch, though, so you might want to give it a try.

Daffodil Cake

• Your favorite angel food batter
• 6 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 t. orange extract
• 3 T. cream cheese, softened
• 1/3. c. orange juice concentrated, thawed
• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Make the angel food batter.  Set aside about 3 cups; pour the rest into an ungreased tube pan.

Add egg yolks and orange extract to reserved batter and fold together.  Spoon into tube pan over plain batter.  Bake until toothpick in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.  Cool and unmold.

To make the glaze, mix together the cream cheese and orange juice concentrate.  Whisk in the sugar.  Drizzle over cooled cake.

Hopping on the Food Blogger Bandwagon: Macarons

If you read food blogs regularly, you're no doubt aware of the macaron craze. Could you respect me as a blogger if I didn't make my own attempt at these little confections?  No?  I didn't think so.

In that case, here they are: raspberry and cheese-filled macarons.  I used a great recipe from Tartelette, skipping the pink food coloring and substituting cream cheese for the mascarpone.  (Sorry, Tartelette.  I know cream cheese isn't very French, but I've got a lot of it.)

And if the macaron trend has somehow caught you unawares, here are the quick facts: Puffy little meringue cookies made with ground almonds and aged egg whites. Tasty fillings, often chocolate. Piped batter, often messy. Fun to make, fun to eat. They kind of fall apart in your mouth.

If you're serious about macarons, you might want to invest in a scale -- flour and such can be kind of persnickety, so you'll get a much more consistent end-result if you weigh, rather than measure, your ingredients for baked goods. Food scales are cheap, and I'm sure you'll find all sorts of other uses for one, like figuring out whether that letter needs extra postage or if you really got your full 13.5 ounces of creamed corn like the Jolly Green Giant says you did.

The food: Macarons
The verdict: Ooh la la!