Okay, we didn’t die from eating the Mango Pickle last night. We didn’t even suffer from any unpleasant after-effects. So that means the sitting-out-in-the-sun-for-three-days method of preparation didn’t result in a toxic mess. Unfortunately, the recipe called for far too much salt for our taste, almost to the point of overpowering the other spices. The pickle tasted good, but was just not the same or as good as the bought variety. But I don’t have to throw out the whole bottle since Dennis has given the stuff his thumbs-up and says he’ll eat more. The next time I make it though it will be with larger mangoes, maybe the Julie variety, and with less salt.

The rest of our curry dinner was excellent!

Yesterday the rain tree out front was in a promising, exuberant state of bloom, the flowers increasing in size and quantity throughout the day. And it didn’t disappoint as we finally received a huge amount of rain overnight and into the morning, complete with lightning! And just in the nick of time as it was getting rather dry around here again.

I’ve been trying to keep up with the green mangoes, and the ripe, that our tree continues to produce. I’ve made several recipes I discovered during a quick research trip on the internet, and for the most part they have proved to be delicious! Two exceptionally good recipes were Chicken in Green Mango and Fish Curry with Green Mango. I made several alterations to both, allowing for substitutions on a couple of ingredients that I couldn’t get here, and I will post the recipes to the right under What’s Cooking? when I finish making changes to them.

The other interesting recipe I tried making was Mango Pickle, my favourite condiment. I’ve been buying East Indian-produced jars of this stuff for years, and just the thought of it causes me to start salivating. If I could produce a reasonable facsimile at home, Wow!, would I be happy.

Since the mangoes were free for the picking, and the rest of the ingredients were mainly spices and vegetable oil, this was not an expensive recipe to make. It was also easy enough to throw together, but then had to sit in the sun for three days, and be shaken several times a day. We tasted it at that point, after the three days, and at first it didn’t seem right, kind of tinny-tasting. “Uh-oh!” Dennis said and refused to act as guinea pig again. I stirred up the Pickle and sampled some from the bottom. It was closer to what it should have been, but was still “too young.” The good news was that neither of us dropped dead after that initial tasting. I had to add more oil to cover then let it sit, undisturbed for three more days. This was starting to feel more like a science experiment than cooking. What we have today looks like this:

I admit, this picture does not look all that appetizing…

But the fact that it’s ready to eat is a good excuse, nonetheless, to have a curry dinner tonight and give this Mango Pickle a proper taste test. I’m going to make a Mango Chutney today as well. That’s cooked on the stove, not by the sun, so there will be less chance of poisoning ourselves with it. And if the Pickle turns out to be not-at-all palatable then I’ll throw it out and stick to buying the bottled variety. At least the main ingredient was free and other than the time I spent moving the jar back and forth as the sunny patches diminished, it didn’t take that much effort to make.

Snowy suggested that different mangoes will give an entirely different flavour to my recipes. It’s true that these growing in our garden are not the best available on Bequia. So if the taste of the pickle is off, I’m hoping that it might just be due to this type of mango.

This question comes from the Word Press blog, Booking Through Thursday, and I thought it might be fun to play along…

What, in your opinion, is the (mythical) Great American Novel? At least to date. A “classic,” or a current one–either would be fine. Mark Twain? J.D. Salinger? F. Scott Fitzgerald? Stephen King? Laura Ingalls Wilder?

In fact, while we’re at it–I’m curious about the geographical make-up of this meme. So, while you’re leaving your link to your post, tell us where in the world you are! (For the record, I’m in New Jersey, USA.)

My immediate response regarding a Canadian favourite, and even after giving this a lot of thought and perusing of bookshelves, is still The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler. The poor, delapidated, now bound-by-an-elastic, paperback Penguin copy has followed me since high school, which was a very long time ago, and has stood the test of many readings, the great movie version, and even a short-lived musical that opened - and closed - in Edmonton.

As for American novels, I still consider Richard Ford to be my favourite living author. But as for a favourite book I would have to say English Creek and Dancing At the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig. I know, I know - that’s two books, but one follows beautifully after the other and neither has ever disapointed in surprising me as though I reading it for the first time again.

What about you? What’s your favourite book? Comments?

It’s amazing the things I can get up to when I’m supposed to be writing… like today, for instance, when I decided it was time to experiment with English Muffin recipes, attempting to recreate the very same delicious Orowheats we bought and enjoyed when we lived in Calgary. And, I’m very pleased to report that I was successful! Here are some pictures to prove it:

First, you make the dough, let it rise, cut it into 3-1/2″ rounds, and fry them in a dry cast iron pan (I used our Paella pan because I could fit all 16 muffins in at one time) scattered with cornmeal…

Turn over…
and remove to a rack when brown. Allow to cool…

Split with a fork (notice how perfect these are! Sorry, I’m bragging…)

Then toast, slather with butter and raspberry jam, and enjoy with cappuccino!

That was my brilliant morning! Now to get back to that writing, but there are still 15 muffins left…