Back to Margaritaville with Cherry-Chipotle Glazed Salmon

As promised, but probably sooner than you might have expected, we are back featuring the fantastic margaritas from post 12. We really love these margaritas, and they inspired us to plan a complimentary menu. You must try these margaritas in order to understand our budding addiction!

The salmon recipe is from a recent “Cuisine Lite” magazine. Having already selected the margaritas, the chipotle salmon was meant to be. Fresh corn on the cob is starting to show up in our markets, and Meg wanted to replicate a dish she remembered from a now defunct restaurant.  We are both fans of slaw and set about creating a version with a more Mexican flair.

We always, not intentionally, seem to pick one ingredient that requires visiting all of the stores in our area. The winner this week was the Fresno Chili, which was hiding at Winco. The person stocking the vegetables warned us that it is very spicy. The Internet agreed; so we only used ½ a chili in our corn recipe.  We have included a picture of these elusive chilies; so that you will recognize them and stock up, should you encounter them in your stores.

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

The recipe doesn’t specify wild caught salmon, but that is what we chose. Buy it skinned if you can. Not only will this save time, but you will not be picking things off of your fingers and wondering what they are. If you have had one margarita you will recognize them as fish scales. More margaritas require a lot more scrutiny. We loved the chipotle cherry glaze. It is not too spicy, but full of flavor. Sue, being a big lover of chipotle, would have used more; not so much for heat as for the smokiness it imparts. Meg was happy with it the way it was.

We think we hit a home run with the slaw. Try it at your next barbecue and let us know what you think. We liked the slight bitterness and crunch of the English cucumbers.  The cumin was lost a bit behind the cilantro; so adjust according to your taste. 

For those of you watching your calories, pretend the corn is dessert (to better justify the calories). We did use a lower fat cream cheese, but lost our heads and added whipping cream. It is rich and creamy and wonderful. Just go for it. We both agreed that we should have used the other half of the chili.  The fruitiness of the chili adds another dimension to the dish.

Cherry-Chipotle Glazed Salmon

Recipe source: Cuisine Lite, Spring 2012

Prep Time:  10 min

Inactive Prep Time:   

Cook Time:  10 min

Level:  Easy

Serves:  4 servings

Ingredients

Glaze:

• ¼ c cherry preserves
• ¼ c ketchup
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• ½ tsp. minced fresh thyme
• ¼ tsp. ground cumin
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt

Salmon:

• 1 ¼ pounds of salmon, skin removed, cut into 5oz fillets
• ¼ tsp. each kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

Puree preserves, ketchup, lime juice, chipotle, thyme, cumin, and ¼ tsp. salt in a food processor.

Season salmon with salt and pepper. Coat fillets with nonstick cooking spray.

Heat a grill pan over medium. Place salmon fillets flesh-side down; cook 4-5 minutes. Flip fillets, and cook until fish flakes easily when touched, 4-5 minutes more. Baste fillets with cherry glaze in the last minute of cooking.

Weight Watchers: 7 points

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  Meg and Sue’s Slightly Mexican Slaw

Prep Time:   20 minutes

Level:  Easy

Serves:  6 servings

Ingredients

• ½  head green cabbage, shredded
• ½ medium English cucumber, sliced
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced
•  ¼ cup cilantro, chopped

Dressing

• 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (1 large juicy lime)
• 1 Tbsp. agave nectar
• 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
• ½ tsp. ground cumin
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

Put all of the slaw ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients together, pour over slaw, toss and let sit for 15-20 minutes for best flavor.

Weight Watchers: 3 points per serving

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Decadent Creamed Corn

Prep Time:   30 minutes

Inactive Prep Time:   10 minutes

Cook Time:   5 minutes

Level:  Easy

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients 

• 6 ears fresh corn
• 4 oz. low fat cream cheese
• 1 c. whipping cream
• ½ Fresno chili pepper, diced 
•  Salt to taste

Directions

Cook corn on the cob, let cool, then cut kernels off, scraping the cob to get all of the milk.   In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the cream cheese in the cream, stirring until smooth. Reduce heat to low and add the corn and the chilies. Salt to taste.  This dish is best served right away. If you

Weight Watchers: 8 points per serving

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After burning some corn calories planting flowers in the front flower bed at Sue’s house, we were ready to move on to our planned dessert. We previously mentioned the Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka and here is another plug for it. We paired it with a square of Lindt Dark Chocolate with Chili. Let the chocolate slowly melt in your mouth, then take a sip of the vodka.  Mmmm . . .  We highly recommend this combination at the end of the day.

Spicy Crab Cakes - Our Cinco de Mayo Celebration

So, Meg has a new job and she eagerly handed out our new business cards. Last week a list appeared to sign up for a Cinco de Mayo potluck and comments were made anticipating her participation . . . .  no pressure.  We kicked around several options for her and finally decided we needed to do our own celebration. (Have you noticed yet that we readily celebrate any available occasion?) This recipe was one she saw on the Mexican Made Easy show.

We had planned on having one of those very nice white wines that we have featured previously, but Sue determined upon awakening this morning that what we really needed was margaritas! Go, Sue!! So being a Food Network junkie, she immediately researched margaritas, and found Alton Brown’s. This concoction is so fresh, tart and yet smooth that you can count on seeing it in upcoming summer postings.

The salad is Sue’s idea. Grilling peppers and corn on a Panini grill harkened back to hand grinding the Tandoori chicken spices from our first posting. We quickly perceived the error of our ways and threw everything under the broiler. (This time, we are proud to note, it didn’t take us two hours to figure out the better way.)

For those of you who are tired of our fascination with lemon desserts, we picked a bigger yellow fruit this week, and found another opportunity to use tequila!! 

Our unsolicited and biased opinions: 

Loved, loved, loved the crab cakes. They are practically all crabmeat, and the flavor is rich and delicate.  The guacamole gives the cakes a Mexican flair without diminishing their delicacy.  We chose to use corn oil to sauté the crab cakes, reasoning that it had a milder flavor, and the results were as we expected.

The roasted peppers, corn and bean salad could also be used as a salsa.  We added some blue corn chips midway through the meal for some extra crunch; they were perfect with this salad, and we both enjoyed the smokiness from grilling the veggies.  Leftover possibilities could include serving over grilled fish, and if we both didn’t have a busy week ahead of us, another leftover throw down might have happened.   

Meg had a pineapple, and a fruit dessert seemed fitting.  The rest of the ingredients kind of fell into place while we were assembling the meal.  If we do this again, we will probably leave out the tequila (put it in another margarita) and roll the pineapple in turbinado sugar for a bit more sweetness and crust.  If this isn’t part of a Mexican spread, you might want to leave out the chipotle as well. Don’t leave out the coconut, ‘cause it is really good.

 

Margarita

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2009

Prep Time:  5 min

Inactive Prep Time:  --

Cook Time:  --

Level:  Easy

Serves:  1 cocktail 

Ingredients

• 2 ounces 100 percent agave silver/blanco tequila, divided
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 4 limes, divided
• 1/2 small Hamlin or Valencia orange
• 2 tablespoons light agave nectar
• 3/4 cup ice cubes, about 3 to 4

Directions

Pour 1/2-ounce of the tequila into a small saucer. Spread the kosher salt in a separate small saucer. Dip the rim of a martini or other wide rimmed glass into the tequila. Lift out of the tequila and hold upside down for 10 seconds to allow for slight evaporation. Next, dip the glass into the salt to coat the rim. Set aside.

Halve 2 of the limes, cut a thin slice for garnish from 1, and set aside. Juice the halved limes into the bottom of a Boston-style cocktail shaker. Cut the remaining 2 limes and the orange into quarters and add them to the juice in the shaker. Add the agave nectar to and muddle for 2 minutes until the juices are release. Strain the juice mixture through a cocktail strainer into the top of the shaker and discard the solids.

Return the juice to the bottom of the shaker, add the remaining 1 1/2 ounces of tequila and any remaining on the saucer. Add the ice to the shaker, cover and shake for 30 seconds. Strain the mixture through a cocktail strainer into the prepared glass, garnish with reserved lime slice, and serve immediately. 

Our changes:

We did not use the salt and we made a pitcher of margaritas by using the amounts below. We juiced all the fruit and stirred the juice with all remaining ingredients together in a medium pitcher. Chill until ready to serve. Serve over ice.

 3 large navel oranges

 3 limes

 3 Tbsp.   agave nectar

18 ounces silver 100 % agave tequila

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Spicy Crab Cakes Topped with Guacamole



Recipe courtesy Marcela Valladolid



Prep Time:  10 min

Inactive Prep Time:  20 min

Cook Time:  10 min

Level:  Easy

Serves:  4 servings

Ingredients

Crab cakes:

• 1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over to remove any shell, broken into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions (white and pale green parts only)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon habanero hot sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Breading:

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Guacamole:

• 2 firm, ripe avocados, halved, pitted, and peeled
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Crab cakes: Mix the crabmeat, mayonnaise, egg, bread crumbs, scallions, the lime juice, 1/4 cup cilantro, and the hot sauce together in a small bowl. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into 8 (3/4-inch-thick) patties and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Breading: Mix the bread crumbs and 1/4 cup of cilantro on a plate. Carefully turn the patties in the bread crumb mixture until coated on both sides.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. In batches, fry the crab cakes until golden, about 3 minutes each side.

Guacamole: Coarsely mash the avocados in a medium bowl. Lightly mix in the onion, cilantro, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Transfer the crab cakes to a serving platter, top each cake with a tablespoon of guacamole, and serve.

Weight Watchers: 8 points

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Grilled Corn, Peppers and Black Bean Salad

4 servings

Salad:

·          I can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed.

·          ½ c red onion chopped

      ·          2 medium corn on the cob, husks and silk removed

·          1 large pobalno chile

·          1 large red pepper

·          1 small jalapeno pepper

 Dressing: 

·          2 Tbsp. olive oil

·          1 ½ Tbsp. fresh lime juice

·          1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated

·          ½ tsp. cumin

·          Salt and pepper

 Grill or broil the corn, red pepper, poblano and jalapeno peppers on all sides. Put peppers in a covered bowl and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, peel and seed the red pepper, poblano and jalapeno and then dice. Cut the corn from the cobbs. Combine all of the salad ingredients in a medium bowl.

Combine dressing ingredients in a measuring cup. Whisk and taste for seasonings. Pour dressing over salad and marinate uncovered on a counter until ready to serve. Can be made ahead and refrigerated. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Weight Watchers: 7 points per serving

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Grilled Tequila Pineapple

2 servings

·          2 c pineapple cut into 1 ½ inch wedges, ½ inch thick

·          1 T lime juice

·          1 ½ T agave nectar

·          Pinch of chipotle powder

·          1 shot of tequila (1 ½ ounces)

·          2/3 c  coconut

 

Toast the coconut in a 250’ oven on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes.  Watch it closely, as it burns quickly.  Set aside in a bowl.

Marinate the pineapple in the remaining ingredients for at least 1 hour.  Depending on your grill, cook until grill marks appear, flipping if necessary.  Sprinkle generously with coconut and serve. 

**See our comments.

Weight Watchers: 8 points (it’s the coconut that bumps up the points)