Fresh Mango Salsa Recipe

Cooking Class for a Cause

Mid-summer revelers at a recent fundraising dinner in Point Dume were treated not only to a nice, warm evening out, but also delicious Euro-Asian fusion food prepared and narrated by local chef Christel Shaw.

Food … uh … narrated? Yes!

The dinner, the second in a series of five, was created as a cooking class fundraiser for  Mending Kids International , which provides life-saving, corrective, transformational surgical care to children around the world. MKI has provided surgeries to hundreds of children from all over the globe—some 500 from 39 countries—in the last five years alone. MKI has a very active Malibu Guild, covering Calabasas, Agoura Hills, etc., and some 30 people came out to support the cause that night. Robyn Moore and Leslie Frost co-chair the Malibu Guild.

So Shaw, aided that evening by her sons Parker (also a chef) and Taylor (acting as Parker's assistant), prepared a feast, from dangerously delicious cocktails to decadent desserts.

Guests were greeted at the home of Paula Steiger and Steve Bunce, and offered a Cocotini Cocktail—a creamy, tangy coconut milk-lime-vodka concoction that set the mood for the balmy evening. A scallop amuse bouche followed, to whet the appetite for courses to come. Shaw served it in a tall champagne flute with chopsticks—an arresting presentation.

As guests found their way to dinner under strings of glittering lights, they were greeted at the tables with wonton chips and an absolutely delicious Asian "Everything" Sauce for dipping. Fragrant with cilantro, mint, peppers, ginger and garlic, this sauce could be used as a marinade, dressing, finishing sauce or dip by an imaginative home cook.

And since this was a class, a packet of recipes awaited each guest. Shaw punctuated the evening with comments about each course or dish, giving advice on how it might be served or used at home.

All of her recipes for the evening are easily do-able by home cooks, and are especially fitting for the Malibu outdoorsy lifestyle.

The next course was a lovely piece of grilled mahi mahi, topped with a fresh, summery Mango Salsa (recipe below), and a drizzle of tangy White Sauce (recipe below). As Parker and Taylor expertly plated the fish, spooned on the vibrant salsa and squirted each plate artfully with the white sauce, Shaw explained that this sauce is commonly used with fish tacos.    

Next came smoky, sweet baby back ribs glazed in a hoisin sauce, atop a bed of a crunchy Hawaiianesque slaw. Guests were licking their fingers over that one!

Mango & Pineapple Salsa Recipe | Lil' Miss

Between the grill going and the fresh fruits and vegetables in season, there’s something about the summer that makes Mexican food the perfect food to make. While I love mainstays like pico de gallo, tomatillo salsa and guacamole , I also like to play around with my salsa.  A while back I made a mango & black bean salsa.  Last night I had a lot of fresh fruit in the fridge and since I was making fish tacos for dinner, I thought a tropical fruit salsa would be the perfect refreshing accompaniment to grilled Mahi Mahi.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can really add whatever you want – this is just what I happened to have in the fridge but feel free to add -  I think next time I’m going to add some Jicama.  But the best part?  This fruit salsa works equally well with chips, fish or chicken tacos and vanilla ice cream – you can’t say that about many things!

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