Description
When the weather grows hot, cooking that requires extended oven use is to be avoided whenever possible. The mango and thin-sliced air-dried and salted beef bresaola (from the Alps of northern Italy) that is the principal component of this first course will raise the kitchen’s temperature not one iota. The only heat applied in the making is during the few brief minutes in which the sauce caramelizes over a burner flame.
Ingredients
- 4 whole Large Mangoes Or Enough To Cut Into 24 Slices
- 8 Tablespoons Dry Red Wine
- 6 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
- 18 slices Bresaola
- 6 teaspoons Pink Peppercorns
Preparation
You will also need:
1. A heavy-bottomed pan.
2. A whisk or wooden spoon.
3. A small bowl.
4. Six individual serving first-course plates (each about 8-inches in diameter).
For the preparation:
1. Peel the mangoes and cut them into long, thin slices. There should be at least 4 slices for each individual serving.
2. In the pan, whisk together the wine and powdered sugar.
3. Heat the mixture over a medium flame, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon, until the sauce becomes thick and syrupy. When the sauce is sufficiently caramelized, it will coat the back of a spoon and form a droplet on a plate. See the related link for a photo.
4. Stir the balsamic vinegar into the sauce. Transfer the sauce to a small bowl and set it aside while you place the mango and bresaola on the plates.
5. Arrange the 6 plates out on your work space. Form rosettes of bresaola by laying a slice in one hand, poking down on its center with the index finger of your other hand, then pinching the indentation together from below with the fingers of the hand holding the slice. There is a photo of a finished rosette on the related link.
6. Arrange 3 bresaola rosettes in the center of each plate and encircle them with 4 mango slices. See an illustration on the related link.
7. Drizzle ribbons of sauce, extending out, like the sun’s rays, over the mango slices and out to the corners of each plate. Dot the plates here and there with droplets of sauce and sprinkle each plate with 1 teaspoon of pink peppercorns.
