March (Mango) Madness

The mangoes are back! The mangoes are back! The mangoes are back!

That's right, Gentle Reader--alfonso mangoes are back on the produce shelves at HEB, and I couldn't be happier. Of course, I still have (well, now it's had) a 32-ounce yogurt carton of peeled mango pieces in my freezer. Nevertheless, seeing those yellow kidney-esque fruits makes me happy and reminds me that it was about a year ago that I started on my culinary misadventures.

I'm not the only one with March mango madness. The March issue of Cooking Light shines a spotlight on the latest food trends, but no, mangoes are not one of them. Instead, it's agave nectar. Included in the agave nectar spotlight is a recipe for mango-agave sorbet. Since HEB has its alfonso mangoes two for a buck and since I had some frozen pieces just waiting to be used, how could I not make this recipe--even though my luck with homemade ice cream is downright miserable?

Mango-Agave Sorbet4 C cubed peeled ripe mango (about 3 pounds)
1/2 C fresh orange juice (about 3 oranges)
1/3 C fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
1/3 C tequila
3/4 C light agave nectar
1/3 C water

Combine the cubed mango, OJ, lime juice and tequila in a food processor, then process until smooth.

1. Pour the mixture into a bowl, and stir in the agave nectar and water.
   
2. Cover and chill the mixture for 2 hours.
   
3. Pour the mixture into the freezer can of an ice cream freezer, and freeze it according to the manufacturer's instructions.
   
4. Spoon the sorbet into a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze 8 hours or until firm.

Nutritional Info
Calories: 233
Fat: 0.5 g
Sat fat: 0.1 g
Protein: 1 g
Carbs: 55.4 g
Fiber: 3.1 g
Sodium: 4 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
The only thing I futzed with was the blending method. I have a small food processor. It holds 3 cups, which isn't enough room for the ingredients to be blended together. So I whipped out the blender, which worked like a charm and gave me a convenient container in which to chill the mixture for two hours.

Speaking of chilling, I did that in the 'fridge--in the very back. Where stuff happily freezes. However, the mixture didn't freeze there, and I wasn't sure how cold it needed to get to help it set right in the ice cream maker. The recipe, methinks, should specific where to chill the concoction, in a 'fridge, the 'fridge's freezer or in a deep freezer, if one has such a convenience available.

I'll also say this: My Cuisinart ice cream maker is, I think, a piece of junk. I've never gotten it to churn up something that turns out remotely close to ice cream. And I realize it's not supposed to--it's just supposed to churn up the ingredients, whip in the necessary air so that after you freeze what you churned, you have the appropriate consistency. Is the churning necessary, I wonder. I guess I'll have to do some experimenting and find out.

The finished product was delicious!

Of course, the stuff that I chilled for two hours was delicious without any churning or freezing, tasting sort of like a tequila-spiked mango lassi. (Mmmm...mango lassi....) I served it two ways: (1) with two-bite brownies I scored on sale at HEB (which I find to be tastier than the ones Whole Paycheck touts) and (2) with some red raspberry sherbet from Braum's, which added a nice counterpoint to the mango.

What was interesting about the slowly freezing, churned mixture was that depending on whether ya spooned up some of the more-frozen stuff or some of the more-liquid stuff, you got a different predominant flavor. The more-frozen stuff wasn't as sweet, the agave nectar wasn't as pronounced as it was in the more-liquid stuff. I suspect the cheap tequila I used might have influenced the varied flavor. I suppose I'll have to dig a little deeper into my pockets and fork over a bit more for some better tequila should I make this recipe again.

Oh, one last note: I have no idea if the agave nectar I get from the bulk foods playland at Whole Paycheck is light or whatever. I'm sure its grade is on the label of the big spigot, but I never pay attention. Since you have to write your own labels for your bulk food purchases (unlike the fun machines at Central Markup), I never take the time to write down what I think of as nonessential info.