Frugal Food Thursday: Mango Chile Sauce

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May (and now June!) is Mango Month here at Frugal Follies!  I have two big mango trees in my backyard, and both are filled with ripening fruit.  My challenge for myself this month is to use the mangoes to make jams, sauces, and other wonderful things.  (Such a problem, huh?)

One of the great things about having so many to use is that it gets me to pull out my canning equipment and supplies.  I bought the stuff years ago, thinking I'd be growing and canning pretty much all the produce we eat.

Well, that hasn't happened yet, though I still have hope to one day grow a garden without killing everything or having the bugs eat everything.  But with the copious amounts of mangoes, I canned mango jam (recipe next week) and mango chile sauce a few days ago.  Here's my results:

Mango Chile Sauce, left, and Mango Jam, right

The Mango Chile Sauce was a first for me.  I got the recipe from the book The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard.  I made a couple of minor changes: I substituted jalapeno peppers instead of the red chile pepper called for, I used regular white vinegar instead of rice vinegar, and I left out the cloves.  You should be very careful in making changes to a canning recipe - any change to the amounts of fruit/vegetables, vinegar, or sugar could mean that the recipe will not work correctly.

If you're canning for the first time, be sure to read in a canning manual the details about the process of canning and follow the directions to the letter.  If you don't can, just keep this sauce in the refrigerator.  With the vinegar, it should keep for some time.

I loved how the sweetness of the mangoes and the pineapple juice contrasted with the sourness of the vinegar and the spiciness of the peppers.  I served this sauce with some baked salmon, and it was delicious.  It would also be great with chicken.

MANGO CHILE SAUCE

3 cups coarsely chopped peeled plum tomatoes (about 8-10 tomatoes - here's how to skin a tomato)
2 cups chopped mango (about 4-5 mangoes - here's how to cut a mango)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tbsp minced gingerroot
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Combine tomatoes, mango, peppers, vinegar, pineapple juice, onion, celery, gingerroot, and bay leaf in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 1 hour or until thickened.

Add sugar and salt; return to a boil and boil gently for 10 minutes.   Remove and discard bay leaf.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into half-pint jars to within 1/2 inch of rim.  Process 15 minutes as described in canning manuals.

Makes 5 half-pint (8 oz) jars.

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