Mango Salsa and Mango-Mint Preserves

When I was a young girl in Pennsylvania, every summer my mother would buy two crates of mangoes- one for the family and one just for me. I remember sitting in the yard with a knife and sticky bare-hands eating sweet, ripe mangoes until I couldn't stuff myself any more. They seemed to be the best thing I ate all year, and now that I live in Florida they are still my favorite food in this world.
But there is a limit to how many mangoes even I can consume everyday, and my father-in-law's tree is well exceeding that limit. He attacked us with a mango hit and run, left a grocery bag full on our doorknob, texted us to check our front door and then disappeared. I ate as many as I could, fed some to company, and then pulled out the canner.



Mango-Mint Preserves:
6 cups diced mango
2 cups water
2 Tbsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp salt
zest from 2 limes
1/2 cup lime juice
2 cups sugar
1 package pectin powder
1 Tbsp mint, chopped


Sterilize 8 1/2 pint jars, lids and rings and hold in a 200 degree oven. Combine mango, water, ginger, salt and zest in a pot and cook on low for 20 minutes. Add lime juice, sugar and pectin and bring to a heavy boil for at least one full minute. Remove from heat and test jam for set point on a frozen plate. If needed, cook longer until set point is reached. Stir in mint at the last minute. Ladle into jars, wipe rims, attach lids and rings and process for 10 minutes.



Joe's Mango Salsa:
1 diced green bell pepper
1 diced red bell pepper
2 minced jalapenos
1/2 diced Vidalia onion
4 minced cloves garlic
5 cups diced mango
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp pickling salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
dash each white, black and cayenne peppers
1 cup lime juice
1 cup rice vinegar

Sterilize 3 pint jars, lids and rings, hold in a 200 degree oven. In a small pot, sweat peppers, onion and garlic until onion is translucent. (I'm adding this step in hindsight, as we canned all of the ingredients fresh and ended up with a lot of air bubbles in the middle of the jar. I think cooking the vegetables will prevent this from happening.) Add all ingredients together and mix well. Ladle into jars- we had a little extra- wipe off rims, attach lids and rings and process 10 minutes.