Just in Time for Cinco de Mayo -- The Art of Salting the Glass

With Cinco del Mayo in a couple of days, there are many great margarita recipes being posted -- check out this video "How to Make a Margarita Cocktail" by one of my favorite blogs – Epicurious.

But what’s missing is how to correctly salt the margarita glass.  We at Sal del Mar pride ourselves on how to salt a margarita correctly so that the salt enhances the flavor of the tequila and integrates the flavors. Many of you may be salt-shy due to heavy salting in your past experiences.

So, here is how Sal del Mar recommends salting your margarita glass:

1. Spread Sal del Margarita* evenly on a small plate 2. Moisten the rim of your glass — just the top edge — by running a lime slice around the rim delivering a light coating of lime juice 3. Press the rim of the glass into the salt to crust the rim 4. Tap off the excess 5. Allow the salt to air-dry before filling the glass — this ensures that the salt lightly flakes off with each sip

Other tips: •   Use a martini glass instead of the bowl-sized glasses served in some bars that are so big that they require a straw to drink the margarita because they are too heavy to lift. I call margaritas made this way the “new martini.”

•   Salt just half of the glass rim so that you don't have to have a salted rim every sip.

•   Use a cocktail shaker and mix small amounts of margaritas. The shaken method of making a margarita gives it a purer taste over the taste of sweet slushy margaritas. Shake for about 10 seconds to melt the ice into the drink. Strain into your glass.

•   Ingredients matter. Margaritas are best made with 100% pure agave blanco tequila; fresh-squeezed lime juice and the orange sweetness of Cointreau. There is a growing trend of using boutique aged tequilas.

•   Experiment with adding other flavors to the salt. For a mango margarita, I finely chop mint leaves and mix it in the Sal de Margarita.

Be sure to use Sal del Margarita and let the crisp, salty taste complement the lime and the tequila ingredients while delivering a light crunch as you sip from the glass. Notice how Sal de Margarita quickly dissolves on the palate? Be sure to see my blog archive “marvelous margaritas” for more ideas.

Even marmalade

With citrus in abundance I wanted to make marmalade with the small oranges available in Mexico, called “naranjita.” I called my friend Linda Poverman who I know makes all kinds of marmalades with the citrus from the trees that line the streets in front of her house in Tucson,Arizona. She emailed me the recipe below – Linda’s recipe for grapefruit marmalade since naranjitas are not found everywhere) and then a second email that said “and of course a pinch of SaldelMar."

It occurred to me that adding salt to a marmalade isn’t what you might expect. In fact, it seems magical to discover how salt works with different flavor profiles – such as a citrus marmalade. Salt is a flavor amplifier so it does make sense that you would add it to even a marmalade. And while Sal del Mar does have a distinctive flavor of its own, it shouldn’t really be tasted in the food being served. Instead, you should add just enough to bring out the flavor of the food you are preparing. This revelation about using salt has inspired me on to write more about salt in the coming year. Let me know how you like it!

Here’s the recipe from our friend Linda Poverman using grapefruit:

1. With a vegetable peeler, peel only the outer yellow layer from the grapefruit and finely chop.

2. Juice the grapefruit or separate the wedges and remove the seeds.

3. Try to include as much of the pulp as possible and have a little extra grapefruit juice ready on the side if the mixture seems too thicken as it cooks.

4. Put the peel and the pulp in a pot and let it boil for 20 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn't get dry and adding more juice if necessary. Measure the peel/pulp after the 20 minutes of cooking and add the same amount of sugar to the pot.

5. Add a pinch or two of Sal del Mar 6. Cook at a rolling boil for another 20 minutes, keeping an eye on the mixture and stirring now and then. 7. Have jars ready to fill while the mixture is still hot.

Holiday Time in Mexico

Our first Sal del Mar “tasting” held in Mexico was a big hit. It took place at the Sagitario gift shop in San Carlos, Sonora, a Mexican port town on the Sea of Cortez, near where we harvest our flavorful Sal del Mar sea salt.

The best part of the Sagitario “tasting” was when Vivian Arellano-Bennett brought us a box of Chocolate Holiday Bark candy she made using Sal del Mar as “snow.” Her recipe is an interpretation of an Ina Garten recipe and it was amazing. I must admit, I was a bit wary... even though salted chocolates and carmel are very popular, I just wasn’t sure how I would like chocolate and salt together. But what I discovered is that Sal del Mar brings out a new dimension of flavor in chocolate. It's an easy recipe and a way to pair Sal del Mar with a box of homemade chocolates for the holidays. In fact, the Editor at House Beautiful chose Sal del Mar as one of her favorite gourmet gifts to give this holiday season!

Here's the recipe...

Chocolate Holiday Bark with Sal del Mar Snow Adapted from an Ina Garten 2007 recipe. Prep time: 15 min Inactive Prep time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 10 min Serves: 24 pieces

Ingredients:  8 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped 8 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 1 cup whole pistachios, chopped 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped Sal del Mar, to taste and sight

Directions:  On parchment paper, using a ruler and a pencil, draw a 9 by 10-inch rectangle on the paper. Turn the paper face down on a baking sheet pan. Melt the two chocolates in a heatproof bowl, metal or glass, set over a pan of simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate over the paper and spread to form a rectangle, using the outline. Sprinkle the nuts and cranberries over the chocolate. Finish by sprinkling Sal del Mar over the chocolate, nuts and cranberries.  Set aside for 2 hours until firm. Cut the bark in 1 x 3” pieces and serve at room temperature.

Helpful hints: The water in the pan should not be boiling under the bowl. Keep the water just simmering. Chocolate does not like oil or water.  Make certain your bowl is clean and dry.  When you remove the bowl with the melted chocolate from the pan of simmering water, give the under side of the bowl a quick wipe with a dry cloth or paper towel so it doesn't drip onto your paper-lined pan when you are pouring out the chocolate.

Not Your Traditional Turkey

I’ve been going through recipes trying to decide on a Thanksgiving turkey that isn't “traditional." I remembered one of my favorites from my days as the "Southwest Homes" Editor of Tucson Lifestyle magazine. It was a recipe by Jeanie Neubauer from her Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Co. Cookbook. In addition to writing several cookbooks, Jeanie is the owner of the Santa Cruz Chili Company in Arizona. We did a photo shoot at her ranch in Tumacacori and then Jeanie made it especially memorable by serving our photo crew her "Turkey Santa Cruz." The crew didn't always get such treatment, but Jeanie as I have learned is a master hostess. As I recall, Jeanie had other Thanksgiving dishes with the turkey even though it was probably August since we shot articles at least three months in advance. You won't be disappointed!

Turkey Santa Cruz

by Jeanie Neubauer, owner of the Santa Cruz Chili Company

1 turkey, 12-15 lbs

1 tbs softened butter

2 tbs Santa Cruz Chili Paste

Sal delMar gourmet sea salt

Rinse and dry turkey. Season outside of turkey generously with Sal del Mar and sprinkle with pepper. Blend butter and chili paste then gently rub over turkey, covering evenly.  Set turkey in refrigerator until ready to stuff.

Stuffing

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced celery

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs butter

3 tbs Santa Cruz Chili Powder

1/2 cup chorizo

4 cups stale cornbread

3 eggs

1/2 cup water, more if needed

To make stuffing, sauté onions, celery and garlic in butter over medium heat for three minutes.  Add chili powder and chorizo and cook over low heat for 10 minutes until flavors blend and chorizo is cooked. In a large bowl, combine cornbread with eggs and mix well. Blend in onion mixture and add water as needed if stuffing is too dry.

Loosely stuff turkey and sew closed. Bake at 325○F according to directions, usually 1/2 hour per pound. Start turkey in open roasting pan on a rack, breast down. Turn turkey breast side up when 3/4 done. If breast begins to get too brown, cover loosely with foil. Turkey should be golden brown with a crisp, rosy skin when done.

Salty and sweet too

We were inspired to find a recipe for Sal del Mar’s tasting at Fashion’s Night Out at Pome in Denver on this Thursday, September 8th. The recipe had to compliment the margarita’s (salted with Sal del Margarita, of course) being served as part of the celebration. We found a version of this sweet and salty almond and adapted it. The healthy sprinkling of our coarse grain Sal del Mar combined with honey and olive oil turned out so well we think it would make a great hostess gift for a dinner party or for holiday gifts.  And it is so simple to make!

SWEET AND SALTY ALMONDS by SAL DEL MAR (Adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe)

2 1/2 cups of dry roasted and unsalted almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Sal del Mar
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoon of Nature's Agave™ Raw nectar
1 Tablespoon of water
1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Spread almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine sugar, salt and cayenne pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook Nature's Agave™ Raw nectar with water and olive oil, stirring until combined, about 1 minute. Add almonds and toss to coat. Transfer nuts to sugar mixture being careful not to scrape the extra glaze into the bowl. Toss to coat.  Cool in a single layer.

Buen Provecho!

Have Salad Will Travel

Caprese Salad

It seems like I have become the "official salad maker" for all my family at our nightly dinner parties in Chatham where we are living this summer.  I am up for Master Chef award with a caprese salad that I make with burrata cheese.   Its name "burrata" in Italian means "buttered" and that is how to best describe it. Burrata has a solid mozzarella outside shell and then inside is a mozzarella and cream. It is a great salad to take when you are asked to bring a dish to a dinner party if you want to be a hit! And it's easy.

Caprese Salad

A variety of tomatoes such as: heirloom, cherry,  grape, plum

3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or enough to lightly drizzle over each tomatoes

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Sal del Mar to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 Tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Cut the regular tomatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices, and the plum tomatoes into wedges.  Cut the cherry, grape and teardrop tomatoes into half.  Arrange the tomatoes and cheese on a platter.  Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic over the tomatoes.  Sprinkle with basil Sal del Mar and pepper to taste and serve.

Salting the glass perfectly every time

When it come to your favorite margarita, you may be salt-shy due to heavy salting in your past experiences. Yet, when the salting is done correctly, it enhances the flavor of the tequila and integrates the flavors. I prefer to salt-encrust just half of the rim so that guests can sip from the salt side or not as they drink their margarita. Here is a simple method to be sure your glass is salted perfectly every time: 1. Spread Sal del Margarita* evenly on a small plate 2. Moisten the rim of your glass -- just the top edge -- by running a lime slice around the rim delivering a light coating of lime juice 3. Press the rim of the glass into the salt to crust the rim 4. Tap off the excess 5. Allow the salt to air-dry before filling the glass -- this ensures that the salt lightly flakes off with each sip

Other tips:

• Use a martini glass instead of the bowl-sized glasses served in some bars that are so big that they require a straw to drink the margarita because they are too heavy to lift. I call margaritas made this way the “new martini.”

• Use a cocktail shaker and mix small amounts of margaritas.  The shaken method of making a margarita gives it a purer taste over the taste of  sweet slushy margaritas. Shake for about 10 seconds to melt the ice into the drink. Strain into your glass.

• Ingredients matter. Margaritas are best made with 100% pure agave blanco tequila; fresh-squeezed lime juice and the orange sweetness of Cointreau. There is a growing trend of using boutique aged tequilas.

• Experiment with adding other flavors to the salt. For a mango margarita, I finely chop mint leaves and mix it in the Sal de Margarita.

*Use Sal del Margarita and let the crisp, salty taste complement the lime and the tequila ingredients while delivering a light crunch as you sip from the glass. Notice how Sal de Margarita quickly dissolves on the palate? Be sure to see my blog archive “marvelous margaritas” for more ideas.

Marvelous margarita

Today’s margaritas offer many variables starting with the seeminly limitless choices of tequilas. Over the years, I’ve finally begun to understand that there are all types, grades and styles to choose from.

Then one must consider which of the orange-flavored liqueurs you should use: Triple Sec, Cointreau or Grand Marnier. I’ve even seen recipes that go the entire liqueur gambit including using Midori, and Chambord.

The one ingredient that doesn't seem to share limitless choices is salt. All the margarita recipes I’ve ever seen just recommend a coarse salt or kosher salt. But salts, too, have different tastes and textures and just like in a recipe for a delicious sauce, the taste of the salt can make a difference of how a margarita will taste. The third ingredient, fresh lime juice isn’t even a sacred ingredient, you can have a Strawberry Margarita, Melon Margarita or Mangorita to name of few.

And so I want to introduce you to our new product: Sal de Margarita!

Harvested from the Sea of Cortez, our sea salt has a multi-layered  advantage over other salts for enhancing a margarita. To begin with Sal de Margarita has a crisp salty taste that complements the lime and the tequila ingredients while delivering a light crunch as it is sipped from the glass. Then also the texture of the coarse grains of the crystals make it ideal for crusting the rim of a margarita glass. And what I like a lot about Sal de Mar for a margarita is that after sipping it, it quickly dissolves on the palate. You can find Sal de Margarita online or at our retail stores.

Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner and I am eager to know what one is your is  your favorite.

DAVID THORN'S CLASSIC MARGARITA
I like this recipe because it isn't the sweet, slushy concoction that some bars serve (and which are not my favorite.) David secrets are: he uses 100% silver agave tequila; Cointreau instead of Triple Sec because even though it is more expensive it has the necessary sweetness but is a more elegant flavor; he uses fresh lime juice instead of the bottled version; the fresh orange juice along with the Grand Marnier temper the sharpness while adding character to its natural flavor; and it is shaken in a cocktail shaker allowing the ice to melt and the right degree of frostiness.

To Prepare: Moisten the rim of a martini glass with the cut lime Spread Sal de Mar on a small plate. Dip the moistened rim of the glass into the salt until evenly crusted

Margarita Mixture:
2 oz. Milagro Silver Tequila (David’s favorite)
2 oz. Cointreau (not Triple Sec)
2 oz. fresh lime juice 1 oz. fresh orange juice

Garnish:
Lime slices
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier

Add margarita mixture to a cocktail shaker.  Add ice and cover. Shake thoroughly to chill the mixture. Strain into into a Sal de Mar crusted glass with or without ice. Garnish with a slice of lime and the splash of Grand Marnier. Makes one cocktail.

MANGO MARGARITA
This recipe is entirely an experiment.  My husband, Phillip and I came up with this version because we wanted a Mango Margarita but couldn't find any recipes that were not a frozen, sickening-sweet concoction. So we used the "Keep It Simple" formula and kept to the basics but used the best ingredients to take it to a different level of a sipping cocktail.
Our formula was:  a good 100% agave reposado tequila;  a high-level orange liqueur;  a fresh mango instead of bottled juice; and Nature's Agave agave nectar instead of sugar water.

To round out our luxe ingredients, we crusted the rim of the cocktail glass with our new product, Sal de Margarita and combined it with mint leaves that we crushed and finely chopped.  It adds even more character to the flavors.   We think it is delicious! Let us know what you think!!

For crusting the rim of glass:
1/2 fresh lime for moistening the rim of glass Sal de Margarita
Crushed and finely chopped mint leaves

Spread Sal de Margarita on a small plate. Add chopped mint leaves (about 4 parts Sal de Margarita to 1 part chopped mint leaves). Moisten the rim of 8-oz martini glass with a cut lime. Dip the rim of each glass in the salt, creating a thin crust over half the rim.  (We liked having just half the glass with salt.  It seems like just the right amount)

For Margarita Mix:
4 oz  tequila, preferably a reposado 100% agave tequila
2 oz.  Patron Orange Liqueur
2 oz. agave nectar
2 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 large very, very ripe mango (approximately 4 heaping tablespoons)

Blend the ingredients together in a blender with no ice. Pour mixture into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a prepared 8 oz. martini-style glass.