Tequila and the Mexico Robert's Margarita

I know what your going to say...we ALL have a tequila story. Mine was the night of Princess Diana's funeral. The less said the better, just substitute my name for yours in your story and there you have it.

I didn't drink tequila for a very long time afterwards. This seems to be a trend after a wild night with tequila. But one night in Mexico and a little gentle prodding I ventured to sample this beverage again. Much to my delight there are better tequilas than I experienced and better ways to mix it too. The first night I had the best margarita I ever had. It was also just the second in my life since the first one was so terrible. I made it my mission to sample as many different establishment's version of a lime margarita while in Mexico. Wow. They are not all the same!

On returning to Canada my mission changed to make a copy of the best margarita I had tasted. I only used fresh ingredients and good tequila, I brought home a bottle of Don Julio Blanco. I started with the classic recipe but that wasn't it. Needless to say there were multiple attempts over several months. Then I found the way that suits my taste. On returning to Mexico I can't find anything that is as good as my version now. Although that doesn't stop me from enjoying the odd one while I'm there.

Mexico Robert's Margarita 

Ingredients:

2 parts Don Julio Blanco tequila (or the best you can afford)

1.25 parts Cointreau

2 parts fresh squeezed lime juice

Course salt (salt fleur de sel, you may want to mortar a little to have some fine grains too)

Ice

Directions:

1. Chill glass in freezer

2. Squeeze lime and reserve a used lime skin

3. Combine lime, tequila and Cointreau and mix together (shake or stir depending on your double Oh status aka 007)

4. Put salt on a small plate

5. Rim glass with used lime skin (or you can use a wedge)

6. Salt rim of glass by tipping glass upside down on salted plate

7. Fill glass with ice. Lots of ice- really, lots. Like my friend said about drinks in Puerto Rico: there needs to be enough ice that the glass is full and the weight of the ice keeps it from floating.

8. Pour in the tequila mixture.

9. Garnish with a lime wedge

10. Drink--responsibly!

For Lesli's Birthday party I premixed 7 litres in a water dispenser to save on mixing time. If you wanted I'm sure you could mix up a large batch and keep it in the fridge for a while. Instead of beer on tap more of a margarita on demand. But then again the ritual of making the drink is half the fun.

Tequila Guide

For those of you new to tequila here are some guidelines.

1. Blanco is aged for one year and is for mixing in beverages.

2. Reposado is aged two years and is usually served for "shots" although you might sip a particularly good one like "Casamigos Reposado" which has a beautiful vanilla flavour

3. Anejo is aged three years and is the sipping type drink you might enjoy like a fine scotch, some of my favourites are: From the less expensive end: Cazadores Anejo, middle: 1800 anejo; higher: Aha Toro aniejo

4. Extra Anejo is aged four years and is even smoother usually. Also more expensive. The most unusual and tasty one I've ever had is Cava de Oro extra anejo It is like a desert wine crossed with port: a great after dinner drink to sip. Grand Mayan anejo is another that is very smooth that I had given to me for my birthday that is wonderful!

Grand Mayan Ultra Anejo

Tequila is a very fine clean drink that is good for anyone that has hay fever and wants to stay away from the sugary side effects of scotch or bourbon.  Enjoy responsibly though ;)

Tequila Lime Chicken Skewers

Here it is folks! As requested the recipe for those tasty party treats I served at Lesli's Birthday party. There was such a great response from everyone about how tasty they were that I decided to bump it to the front of the blog line up. I got the body of the recipe from the "Taste" magazine the liquor store puts out in BC. I recommend picking up a copy quarterly for some tasty ideas.

Ingredients:

1 lime zest
1/2 cup lime juice
3/4 cup pulpless orange juice
1/4 cup gold tequila ( I used Cazadores Anejo tequila)
1 Tbsp clover honey
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves, plus extra for garnish (important)
2 Tbsp kosher salt (I like Maldon salt)
1 Tbsp smoked chili powder (I used a pinch of smoked paprika and chill powder)
2 Tsp ground black pepper
1.5 pounds chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1 red onion

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except onion and chicken in a mixing bowl- whisk until the salt dissolves and everything is well mixed.

Add chicken and stir to coat in marinade, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. Or put in ziplock bags and massage the chicken to coat. If you don't use all the marinade save it in the mixing bowl. (I let them soak in ziplock bags for closer to 7 hours, the chicken started to cook a little because of the lime but it was super tasty!

2. Meanwhile soak 12 wooden skewers in water. Unless you want them to burst into flame! For a large chicken breast you will need about 4 skewers with 5-6 pieces on each one.

3. When ready to cook the chicken preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Remove chicken and save marinade. Place the marinade (that had the chicken in it) in a small sauce pan and boil for 1 minute over medium-high heat. We'll use this when cooking the chicken.

4. Thread chicken onto skewers alternating with a few pieces of red onion.

5. Season the grill with a spray bottle of oil. Alternatively you can pour some oil on a paper towel and lightly smear it on the grill. If you have a 3 burner BBQ just leave the flame on the two outside burners and place a 5-6" folded tinfoil over the middle burner. We will be laying the wooden skewers onto the tinfoil to further protect them from burning.

6. Grill the chicken. Brushing with reserved marinade frequently and turning often until cooked through; about 8-10 minutes.

7. Place on a platter (that your wife made in pottery, or go to PotteryLove.com to get some of my wife's pottery) and garnish with additional cilantro.

This was easy and fun to make. I skipped the red onion and used 3 pieces of chicken on shorter skewers to make them finger-food-friendly for a party. Everyone will take a small portion, but 5-6 pieces is too intimidating a commitment at a cocktail party. For dinner I would use 5-6 pieces with side dishes on a plate.

I tripled the recipe with 4.5 pounds of chicken and had an extra cup of marinade I kept "clean" for basting the skewers with on the BBQ. It made about 50 skewers and loads of happy party goers!

We had tequila lime chicken skewers again and paired it with the fennel and orange salad (coming to the blog soon) and what a great fresh summer dinner. Give it a shot you will be pleased!

Italian Steak Glaze with Caramelized Fennel

My beautiful carnivorous wife (a rehabilitated vegetarian might I add) asked if we can have steak this week.  I said sure with a big smile on my face because I LOVE steak! When I said I wouldn't be making this marinade and we can just have Montreal Steak Spice. She frowns. Pause. Hmmm. Why not? Maybe we should have something else then. That's how good this marinade is.  Once you have it you always want it. Its just like...well you know ;)

When anyone asks me what the best cut of meat to eat for steak is? I answer as my mom would say: "life is too short to eat anything but beef tenderloin." Sure you can argue about the flavour of different cuts.  But if you are getting beef that is grass fed, free range, steroid free, gluten free, (and any of the other important things your food has to have/ have not) then all the cuts taste great.  If you are buying the cheapest tenderloin yes it will have less flavour; but, also be tender so you won't wear out your jaw muscles.


You can make this and accompany it with anything you would a steak. I served it with my chanterelle mushroom caramelized onion Risotto; onions; potatoes; salad; lots of red wine.

Ingredients:

10 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh ground salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup olive oil (I used a little less so they don't catch on fire on the BBQ)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3-4 beef tenderloin steaks 1 1/2 inches thick

Directions:

Use a garlic peeler to peel the garlic - 10 cloves takes a while but so worth it! and chop it all up roughly.
Place the garlic, rosemary, parsley, basil, oregano and salt into a small bowl or if you have one a mortar. Grind it into a paste.






















Stir in the olive, balsamic vinegar and white pepper until blended throughout
Set aside half the mixture in a separate small bowl for later.

Massage the meat with the other half of the mixture. Let marinade for 1 hour.

Preheat your BBQ to medium-high heat.

Before placing your steaks on the grill oil the grill (I like to spray or rub it with grape seed oil)

I think steak should be medium-rare. If you agree then do it this way:
To get nice hash ( # )marks: place the steak on the grill so it is across the grates on a 45 degree angle; set a timer for 2 minutes, turn 90 degrees and cook for another 2 minutes;

Flip and spread the remaining mixture onto the just cooked side.

Repeat the 2 minutes at 90 degrees for the other side. A total of 4 minutes per side.

Remove from the grill and cover on a platter with tin foil for 3-5 minutes.  Believe me, this is critical. It will keep the heat in but more importantly the steak will become more juicy.

I like to present this steak either on the plate whole or as my wife prefers: sliced thinly against the grain and plated in a pleasant fan orientation.

This is a fabulous tasting marinade. I made it with fresh herbs from our garden and garlic grown in the interior of BC. The aroma in the air was so big and full I wondered why I don't always use fresh herbs. After all BC is know for its herbs isn't it?

I was so excited about making this Italian steak glaze that I told my neighbour what I was grilling over the fence. He just kind of smiled and said "yes, I love that." Then it dawned on me his name is Dino, wife Adrian and sons Leo and Nico, all solid Italian names.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/216468/italian-rib-eye/

Caramelized Fennel:

This is a great accompaniment to steak, and many other dishes too.

Ingredients:

1 fennel bulb sliced (think making onion rings)
2 tbsp. oil in frying pan

Directions:

Heat oil in pan on medium-low;

Slice fennel and put in pan stirring occasionally. This can take 30 minutes.

Cedar Plank Salmon

Living on the West Coast it seems everyone has got a cedar plank salmon recipe. Well so do I! I go for the simple things that showcase the flavours. Well, also because I don't want to spend ALL day in the kitchen prepping food. I feel that the key thing with smoking is to enhance the taste. I have had experiences were I feel like I am eating a piece of dry wood and that just isn't what I'm ever after. Along that vein--the new chardonnay's are being made with way less oak and they are fantastic! It's worth trying them again if you gave up on them. I had the opportunity to purchase some "White Spring Salmon" to use with this preparation and I HIGHLY recommend you try it if you get a chance. It is fairly rare I understand. The taste is not as overpowering as some salmon can be and works beautifully with the cedar.

Ingredients:

2 12-14 x 5-6 inch cedar planks
1/3 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 11/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2+ pounds of salmon (I had 4 pieces about 2.5 pounds, 2 on each plank)

Directions:

1.  You will need to soak the cedar planks for an hour minimum in warm water. Longer is better if you have the time. If you soak them in your sink remember to clean it first.

2.  Combine all ingredients (olive oil, rive vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, green onions, ginger) in a shallow dish. Put the salmon into the marinade and coat. Let sit for at least 15 minutes but an hour is better. Turn fish half way through time to make sure they are coated.

3.  Time to get the grill going. Preheat your BBQ for medium heat.

4.  When the grill is up to temperature, about 400, place the cedar planks on the grate. When they start to smoke and crackle a little they are ready.

5.  Now place the salmon skin side down on the planks. Discard the marinade because now we can't use it. Close the lid to contain the smoke. Depending on the thickness of the fish and temperature you keep your grill at (a fire flare up will spike the temperature) it will take 15-20 minutes to cook. Please don't overcook! It is ready when it can be flaked with a fork. Remember it will keep cooking even after you remove it from the grill.

NOTE: it the plank catches fire use a water spray bottle to put out the flames.

6.  Plate the fish. The skin will most likely stick to the plank so don't worry about that.

The thin portion of the salmon had the texture of a soufflé and we all marveled at it. The smoking combined with the marinade sealed the juices in waiting for your fork to release the flavour. The meatier portion was flaky and tender. There was a light smoked taste, but it was subtle.

I've since made it again with farmed salmon that was nice and fatty and it was just as tasty.

Grills hot- Here we go!

I'm back with some tasty new recipes for the grill and in the kitchen. My awesome wife has planted herbs that I can use so let's get to it. Here are some of the things to look out for...

Happy days!

Gone to the Grocery store

I'm taking some time off over the holidays.  See you in the new year!