It is so dang hot right now here in South Texas that even with the air conditioner running full blast, parts of the house are still rather warm.
I thought I would share a tasty little treat that I like to make that keeps us all cool here. It is a Mexican styled drink known as an agua fresca, which is a sweetened drink made with fresh fruit. They are super easy to make and very delicious.
Ingredients:
2 ripe mangos
1 cup sugar
8 cups water
half a lime
Directions:
- Pit and peel the mangos into chunks about an inch big
- In a blender, place the flesh of 1 mango, 2 cups of water, and 1/2 cup of sugar. Blend until smooth.
- Remove the mango puree and place into a pitcher.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the second mango.
- In the pitcher, pour the remaining 4 cups of water.
- Squeeze the 1/2 lime into the mixture.
- Pour over ice.
If the mango agua isn't sweet enough for you, you can certainly put more sugar. If the mangos aren't ripe enough, you may need to reduce the water to 6 cups instead of the 8. It's hard to give exact measurements/amounts because it all depends on the quality of the fruit you get at your market. Keep in mind, though, that the consistency should be very much like water, not like a slushy or a smoothie. That's why it's called an agua! It should be a flavorful and refreshing fruit water.
If anyone decides to try this, let me know what you think. I happen to love a good mango agua, though watermelon is also muy delicioso!
If you like this, there are several other fruits you can try, though the amount of water varies for each one due to the water content of each fruit. Watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, hibiscus, and lime are all pretty typical aguas.
Oh, and if you want to gay it up a little, put little paper umbrellas in everyone's glass. Lol.
And no! You can't have-a the Mango! (Slaps ass)
