Yup, I did it. I totally kicked ass today. Eighteen Chefs has got nothing on me.

For those of you confused, no, I did not literally kick the asses of eighteen chefs. I wouldn’t have survived to type this post if I did. Nope, the Eighteen Chefs is a restaurant where I had a fantastic cheese-baked rice with creamy mango sauce, which I moaned about here.

Remember the amazing, unique creamy mango sauce that I promised to recreate? I finally made my own version today, and let me tell you with the utmost humility: It totally rocked ten times better than the one in Eighteen Chefs.

My sauce tasted a bit different, but I’m glad because it was that. freaking. good. And because I love you all so much, and because I’m really a generous soul, I shall share my recipe with you.

                            Sophia’s kick-ass Cheesy-mango sauce

• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup diced extra-ripe mango
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• salt and pepper to taste

I first heated up the milk and the mango together over low heat. Please don’t faint yet already at this first procedure. The fragrance of the coconut milk and mango cooking together is mind-boggling, but get a hold of yourself! The best has yet to come!

When the mango sort of broke down into the liquid, I removed it from the heat and stirred in the mozzarella cheese, yogurt, turmeric, and seasonings. It becomes this gooey, sticky thick cream, with a beautiful orange hue:

DO NOT GULP IT DOWN. You need it in this “mix-it-up” bowl:

                    Coconut-crusted Pilaf with Cheesy-Mango Sauce

The base: 1 cup cooked pearl barley, 1/2 cup chopped roasted winter squash and 1/4 cup black beans

The mix-ins: 1/4 cup chopped red onions, 1 large clove minced garlic

The dressing: Cheesy-mango sauce (recipe above)

The topping: 1/4 cup fresh grated coconut and 1 tablespoonful Parmesan cheese

As usual, I sautéed the onions and garlic, then tossed in the base ingredients. Once the pilaf was heated through, I turned off the heat and then mixed in the dressing. Then I ladled the whole thing into ceramic bowl:

Then I topped it off with the coconut and Parmesan cheese, popped it into a 375 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, until the top was nice and golden-toasted like this:
Okay, you can swoon now. 

It smelled like a tropical paradise with the coconut and the mango, and the crust was just fantastic. The bit of Parmesan cheese kicked a punch to the otherwise rich coconut crust, and it was almost like a savory dessert topping.
 
And the lovely contents inside…Each scoop was just beautiful and delicious.
 
I chose Mozzarella for the cheese for its mild taste, so that the mango flavor will shine through, and it did, just perfectly without being too sweet.
 
The turmeric added just the right amount of spice to counteract the natural sweetness of the dish, and gave it a nice yellowish color, too.

If I’m going to have to rate this dish, I would give it a 9.9/10. And I’m leaving out the 0.1 just to keep up the pretense of being modest. Don’t just sit there and drool and be envious, go try this out for yourself! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

And now here’s something for laughs:

One of the reasons I love WordPress is because it lets me view the terms people typed into the search engine to find my blog. I’m always tickled by what search words people entered to get to my blog. Here are just a couple of the funny ones:

"Why fat girls burp”
"i burp loud”

And then the rather disgusting ones:

“white noodles in my poo”
”plump burping girls porno”

Goodness. I had no idea there were actually someone who gets sexually aroused by burping plump girls. And white noodles in poo? Talk about totally inappropriate and unappetizing for a food blog!

Anyway, hope I didn’t gross you out too much. Scroll back up to envision the nice coconut-crusted pilaf just above if you feel a little puke in your mouth.

Question of the day: An online friend Nanete once asked m
e if there were any fruits or vegetables I disliked. I know most of you are healthy eaters and love your fruits and veggies, but is there any you particularly dislike?

For me, I hate cooked carrots. Love them raw, but can’t stand them soft and mushy. Erk. On the other hand, I don’t like bananas, unless they are cooked. I also dislike cantaloupes, melons, and honey dews.  I find them cloyingly sweet. But otherwise, I love most fruits and vegetables.

Related posts:

1. Twiddling my thumbs for the Big Event
2. Let’s get down and cheesy
3. All by Myself…
4. It’s time.
5. Seduced again by the French mistress

Tagged as: barley, beans, cheese, coconut, mango, pumpkin