A Crespo Organic Kitchen Cooking Class
Class Description: In this class, you’ll learn how to make thirst-quenching summer mango drinks out of this summer’s bounty of mangoes! Here we will teach you how to whip up our favorite mango thirst-quenchers, perfect on a hot summer’s day. We’ll teach you how to prepare a light fruit-herb fermentation, how to add spice for depth, how to utilize coconut water for maximum hydration, how to create a mango pit syrup for iced tea, and we’ll show you our famous Mango-schino Cherry recipe. This class will demonstrate that you don’t need alcohol to have a good drink. In fact, nonalcoholic drinks can be more refreshing, more hydrating and less depleting of vitamins than alcoholic beverages; not to mention, they won’t make you sleepy in the heat. All of our classes will provide some basic mango education, such as how to choose, store and cut mangoes and a little bit about mango varietal nuances, as well! We’ll also discuss how to pick and choose your flavor pairings and potencies.
Recipes to be Made: (Lightly) Fermented Mango-Peach Herbal Punch; Mango-Lime Coconut Fizz; Sparkling Cherry-Limeade sweetened with Mango Pit Syrup, Mango-schino Cherry Garnish; Rose & Mango Earl Grey Iced Tea
Date: Tuesday, June 29th
Time: 6:30 PM CST
Location: VIRTUAL! Watch on Instagram live or follow along on Zoom
Details:
Participate Via Zoom
Meeting ID: 813 9950
Passcode: MangoMania
Watch Live on Instagram @CrespoOrganic
Class Notes: There is some prep work needed for this class so check out the PRE-CLASS NEEDS Photo on this post for all the details plus the full ingredient list you will need!
Recipes for the Class
(Lightly) Fermented Mango-Peach Herbal Punch
Makes 1 Pitcher (About 2 Quarts)
Our mango crackerjack Nissa wrote a lovely blog post about refreshing and herbal non-alcoholic drinks for the summer. This mango herbal punch was included, and, lucky us, we get some, too! She uses a method of lightly fermenting fruit in a mason jar, allowing it to macerate alongside seasonal herbs and spices and then turns that into a syrup which mixes with sparkling water or coconut water for a refreshing summer beverage san the booze! The result is a deeply layered and ultra-flavorful summer drink that feels like a cocktail, but keeps you sober.
Special Equipment Needed: Mason Jar with lid, blender or hand-held emulsifier, and pitcher
Ingredients
1 large mango, cubed
1-2 peaches, cubed
¾ cup raw sugar
Juice of 2 Meyer lemons, and the peels
Zest of 1 regular lemon
Juice of 1 orange
8-10 basil leaves, torn up
1 small sprig of rosemary, torn up
A little handful of rose geranium leave, torn up (optional)
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger, peel on okay
1 teaspoon white peppercorns, crushed
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground mace
2 cups hot water
Sparkling water
Directions
Place the mango, peaches, sugar, citrus juices, peels, zest, herbs and spices in a mason jar. Cover and shake really well. Let it sit on your counter in a non-bright, coollocation for about 5-6 days. Make sure to shake it up each day and also take the lid off and smell it to make sure it’s not over-fermenting. There should be just a slightly sweet-sour smell, and there should absolutely be no mold. After about five days, refrigerate it for a few more.
Fill the mason jar with hot, almost boiling water. Mix up the mixture, making sure all the sugars are completely dissolved. Strain the mixture, pushing down to extract all juice. Discard the solids and add the syrup to a pitcher half-filled with ice and fill it with sparkling water. Enjoy!
Mango-Lime Coconut Fizz
Makes 1 pitcher (about two quarts)
You don’t need gin to make the wonderfully classic fizz cocktail. This version feels really special (even fancy) while remaining quite simple to prepare. Our version is just as frothy and bubbly but has a delightful tropical edge to it. The secret technique from the Crespo Organic Kitchen is using a milk frother to froth the egg white.
Special Equipment Needed: milk frother, cocktail shaker or large mason jar, pitcher
Ingredients
3 egg whites
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons lime zest
½ cup lime juice
½ cup mango pure
Ice
Club soda
Directions
Add the egg white, sugar and lime zest to a dry cocktail shaker. Using a milk-frother, froth the egg white for about a minute until it is super frothy. Add lime juice and mango puree and shake vigorously for about 45 seconds. Add some ice and continue to shake vigorously for another 45 seconds. Double-strain it into an empty pitcher half-filled with ice. Fill the pitcher with club soda (no more than 1 ¾ quarts); stir and drink!
Sparkling Cherry-Limeade sweetened with Mango Pit Syrup, Mango-schino Cherry Garnish
Makes 1 pitcher (about 2 quarts)
Everybody’s favorite refreshing summer drink (lemonade) gets jazzed up with limes, cherries, and perfumy mango-pit syrup – oh my! As complicated as this all sounds, trust us; it’s easy! You can use the basic recipe to make any fruit-ade! We love serving this in fancy cocktail glasses!
Special Equipment Needed: blender, cherry pitter or olive pitter
Ingredients
2 cups mango-pit syrup (see recipe below)
1 cup pitted cherries
Zest of 2 limes
1 ½ cup lime juice
Sparkling water
Mango-schino Cherries (see following recipe)
Directions
Place the mango-pit syrup, cherries, lime zest and juice in a blender and blend until totally liquefied. Strain into a pitcher half-filled with ice, and fill with sparkling water. Garnish glasses with a few Mango-schino cherries.
Mango-schino Cherries
Makes 2 cups of cherries
One of the most clever mango recipes is our Mango Pit Syrup, which is a simple syrup that utilizes all the tropical flesh left on the mango that’s way too hard to extract. The syrup is only slightly mango-esque and more perfumed tropical. It can be used to sweeten anything from teas to cakes, and I have used everything from sugar to honey to rice syrup to make it. In this recipe, we turn it into both a poaching liquid to soften cherries and eventually the syrup that said cherries bask in for a luxurious, slightly spiced maraschino alternative that’s easy to make at home. Cherry pitter required.
Special Equipment Needed: cherry pitter or olive pitter
Ingredients
½ cup sugar in the raw
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ vanilla bean, scraped
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cracked white peppercorns
¼ teaspoon salt
1 handful of pineapple sage, chopped (optional)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup boiling water
3 mango pits with flesh
5-6 cherries, pitted and finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 ½ cup pitted fresh cherries
Directions
Combine the sugars, vanilla bean (including the scraped seeds), spices and zest in a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium heat. Continuously stir the sugar, using a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. You don’t want the sugar to melt but it will begin to appear courser as it heats up and begins to cook and melt. Cook it for another 30 seconds, stirring constantly and then gently pour in the boiling water and melt the remaining sugar. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, add the mango pits, chopped cherries and lemon juice. Let the mixture boil for 3-4 minutes; then, reduce heat and simmer for 10 more minutes. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool slightly. Strain, and discard the solids. Place the liquid back in the pan and add the pitted cherries. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 3-5 minutes or until the cherries are a desired softness. I prefer them a bit firmer, while others a bit softer. Take off the heat and cool completely. Once cool, place the syrup and the cherries in a mason jar and refrigerate for up to 8 weeks.
Mango Pit Syrup
Makes about 2 cups
#UsethePit and sweeten your beverages naturally!
Ingredients
3-4 mango pits with flesh
2 cups water
½ cup sugar, honey or sweetener of choice
Juice and zest of 1 lime (optional)
Directions
Combine the mango pits, water, sweetener and lime juice/zest in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring a little as it comes to a boil. Adjust the burner to low, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Take off heat, and allow to cool completely. Strain and discard solids, and refrigerate the syrup.
Use in cocktails and drinks, tea and sparkling water.
Rose & Mango Earl Grey Iced Tea
Makes 1 big pitcher
This is an easy to make sultry simmer ice tea. Sweetened with mango pit syrup and delicious and refreshing.
Ingredients
2 Rose tea bags
2 Earl Grey tea Bags
2 teaspoons fresh lavender flowers (optional)
2 cups hot water
1 cup mango-pit syrup, cold
Juice of 2 lemons
4 cups cold water
Ice
3-4 mango pits with flesh
2 cup waters
½ cup sugar, honey or sweetener of choice
Juice and zest of 1 lime (optional)
Directions
Place the tea bags, the lavender flowers and the hot water in the bottom of a pitcher, and let steep for about 20 minutes. Remove the tea bags, add the mango pit syrup, lemon juice and cold water. Serve over ice.
Mango Puree
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
1 ½ cup fresh, chopped mango (if super juicy, reduce water by ¼ cup)
½ cup water or liquid (get creative here)
Directions
Combine the mango and liquid in a blender and blend until totally smooth, adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time until desired consistency. Alternatively, blend using a hand-held immersion blender.
*The average organic round mango will yield about 1 ½ cups of chopped fruit, but sizing and variety can differ and change that yield. So, to be sure, measure when a recipe calls for one mango!
This class will be taught by:
Nissa Pierson is a noted herb expert and founder of Ger-Nis Culinary & Herb Center. A cooking instructor, food writer and recipe developer with over 25 years’ experience, Nissa travels the globe in search of food and cultural knowledge while working with small growers in her produce consultancy business. She specializes in sustainable, organic, fair trade and local agriculture. She writes about fresh herbs on her blog MyHerbalRoots.com and educates consumers about organic mangoes. Find her UnderTheMangoTree.CrespoOrganic.com
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