Mango Salsa.

Mangoes, mangoes, mangoes. Oh how I love them.
Although we are very lucky in this country to have them nearly all year long, it always seems such a treat to me, to be able to buy a case of mangoes. Which I did, on Christmas Eve. The case contained 20 mangoes for only $15.00. The first five were eaten over the kitchen sink, making rather a mess of my hands and arms. So sweet and juicy, and so very yummy.

Tonight I made a mango salsa to go with leftover turkey, also had a green leaved salad, avocado and a egg and potato salad. This salsa would go well with most cold meats and a good strong cheddar cheese.

What you will need.
6 MANGO cheeks.
1 SPANISH ONION.
2 red CHILLIES.
Juice of 1 LIME.


Dice the mango and scrap from the skin into a bowl.
Dice the red onion, and the chili, really small making sure you have no pips. Add to bowl.
Squeeze the lime over the mix already in the bowl and mix well trying not to break up the mango too much.




Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
I think this would be lovely with savoury crackers and cheese as well.

Christmas Hedgehog.

There are so many parties and Christmas do's on at this time of year, but in this hot weather it is very difficult to do something that will keep, be tasty and festive. So when I was asked to the local betting clubs Christmas do and they said "Bring a plate" This was my answer.
Which I have named THE CHRISTMAS HEDGEHOG.
I got hold of a seedless watermelon this morning that weighed six kilos. The man in the fruit and veg shop, kindly cut it in half for me.
I washed the outer skin and then lightly rubbed some olive oil on the skin, and sprinkled it with gold edible sprinkles. Like a gold dust really.
One kilo of Cabanosi sliced.
One kilo of Cheddar cheese, cut in to cubes.
One fresh Pineapple, peeled cored and sliced.
Two jars of red Cocktail Onions.
Two jars of green Cocktail Onions.
Two hundred cocktail sticks.
Load three different things on to the stick, making sure you have the red and green onions at the top, or the pineapple and proceed to load up the watermelon.
This was a lot of fun to make, and everybody at the party enjoyed eating it too.
If anybody knows it's true name, I would be very grateful to hear from you. Until then, I shall call it my Christmas Hedgehog. Such a cute and lovable little animal. (We don't have them in Australia, arhhhhhhh!)

Three Cheeses' and Pickled Onion Muffins.

Yes, more muffins. This time I wanted to use up some cheeses' I had in the fridge. Mersey Valley Vintage Cheddar with pickled onions, being one of them. Parmesan being another, as I had managed to get hold of a large block from the deli and dear hubby had grated it for me. Also, some good old fashioned Cheddar cheese. Now, if you can't get the Mersey Valley cheese, just add more cheddar.

The recipe..

2 cups S.R. FLOUR. (Sifted)
1/2 cup RICE BRAN OIL.
3/4 cup MILK.
2 EGGS.
1 cup CHEDDAR CHEESE (Grated)
1/2 cup of MERSEY VALLEY VINTAGE CHEDDAR (Pickled Onions) (Chopped)
1/2 cup PARMESAN (Grated)
4 large PICKLED ONIONS (Sliced and diced)
2 SPRING ONIONS (Sliced finely)

Method..

Preheat oven to 180c. Prepare muffin tray by greasing.
Mix the wet ingredients together, add the sifted flour. Then stir in the three cheeses, spring onions and pickled onions.
If you feel the mix is a little dry, add a touch more milk and oil.
Fill the muffin tray holes to 3/4 full.
Bake in the oven for 20 -25 minutes, or until golden brown.
The aroma coming from the oven, will drive you mad. These are truly very tasty.
I have frozen half of mine (6) and can be warmed in the microwave for a few seconds, once defrosted.
Do hope you enjoy.