Pure silver & salt

There’s a reason the Camino Real ran through Alamos... during the 19th century, the mineral mines made our charming village the premier “Silver City” of Northern Mexico. Now, we celebrate the town’s glittering heritage every year with the Annual Alamos Silver Festival. This special weekend celebrating our precious metal, allows visitors to experience Sonoran cuisine, local music, unique presentations, and best of all, you get to shop for exquisite Mexican silver at some very special Alamos-only pricing. There's a "Silver Raffle" that includes pieces donated by each of the 16 participating artists, where all proceeds go to the renovation of the town church, La Parroquia de la Purísima Concepción. The raffle takes place during the "Silver Gala Dinner" on Saturday night—you need not be present to win, but you don't want to miss this chance to have a fantastic gourmet meal and show off all your amazing silver pieces!

The featured artists this year include: Emilia Castillo | Lawrence Baca | Jewels | Julio Pagliani | Ron Burhham | Noa James | Agnes Seabass | Jean-Maruice Lacroux | Damian & Alex Vazquez | Hacienda Vintage Silver | Collection | Jose Brilanti | Alejandro & Roxana Gentil | Das Lanzoloti | Douglas Magnus | Coreen Cordova | Gina Pankowski | Greg Souther.

Our favorite place to stay for the festivities is the Hacienda de los Santos, a magical place with stone walkways, brick passageways and a stone footbridge set amidst six lushly landscaped acres. Hope to see you there. Let us know if you visit!

A pinch of sal del mar

Last week my husband and I were invited to a small dinner party hosted by our friends, Jeanie and Bill Neubauer. Jeanie, who owns the Santa Cruz Chile Company is known for her intimate dinner parties in their house overlooking the Sea of Cortez. The Neubauers are hosts that love their guests to join in the cooking. Jeanie snapped a photo with her iPhone camera of Debra Paterson, a guest from Arizona and David Haynes from California, sautéing orange and red pepper seasoned with a pinch of Sal del Mar. It was served as an accompaniment to Sonora steaks on the grill and Caesar salad made with lettuce from Bill’s garden and ended by tastes of tequila liquors.  Buen Provecho!

To make the recipe featured in the photo:
4 - 5 red, yellow and orange bell peppers cut into ¼ inch slices
¼ cup olive oil
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Pinch of Sal del Mar sea salt

Clean, seed and slice peppers. Sauté in olive oil on low to medium heat until soft (let them sweat). When done finish with a pinch of Sal del Mar to taste and a splash of balsamic. Recipe compliments of Debra!

Aquarium of the world gives us salt

The Sea of Cortez is located between the Baja Peninsula and mainland Mexico and is one of the youngest and most fertile seas on earth. The peninsula was formed approximately five million years ago when part of the Earth’s crust separated along the San Andreas Fault drifting in a northwesterly direction away from mainland Mexico. After colliding with southern California, an ocean basin was formed. This basin is known today as the Gulf of California or more commonly referred to as the Sea of Cortez. It is home to thousands of species of marine animals and is the reason why Jacques Cousteau called this sea “The Aquarium of the World.”
Much of the area around the basins is covered by whitish grey salt flats where Sal del Mar is harvested.

Holiday marga-ho ho ho-jito

A mojito traditionally uses rum but this holiday-perfect recipe uses tequila instead, hence the title. Rub glass rim with lime wedge and then dip in a mixture of equal parts Sal del Mar sea salt and sugar for a salty sweet twist on the salt-rimmed glasses.

Prep Time: 5 minutes Yield: Makes 5 cups

1 (10-oz.) can frozen mojito mix
3/4 cup tequila
1/4 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
2 tablespoons orange liqueur or triple sec
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Ice
Combine first 5 ingredients in a blender. Fill blender with ice to 5-cup level, and process until smooth. Serve immediately as shown garnished with cranberries and sprig of local herb such as sage or rosemary.

Zesty sopa de pollo

Don't get stuck making the same old chicken noodle soup. Here's a zesty recipe to keep you warm and cozy during the cold months ahead.
2 whole chickens (3 ½ pounds each)
1 large yellow onion, halved
1 ½ cups long-grain rice
2 avocados
3 limes, halved
4 carrots, halved crosswise
1 tablespoon Sal del Mar sea salt
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves

Rinse the chickens and pat dry with paper towels. Place the chickens, carrots, onion and Sal del Mar sea salt in a 12-quart pot. Add enough cold water (about 16 cups) and cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for 1 hour. Skim off any foam that appears. Transfer the chickens to plates; let cool. Remove and discard the carrots and onion. Add the rice to the broth and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, shred the chicken meat, discarding the skin and bones. Add the meat and pepper to the broth and heat for 3 minutes. Scoop the avocados into individual bowls and ladle the soup over the top. Sprinkle with the cilantro and squeeze on the limes. Yields: 6-8 servings.

To freeze: Omit the avocados, cilantro, and limes; let the soup cool, then ladle into large resealable bags, filling each one halfway. Store for up to 3 months.

To reheat: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or thaw partially in the microwave. Warm in a covered saucepan over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Scoop the avocado into bowls, ladle in the soup, and garnish with the cilantro. Serve with the lime wedges on the side.

A lime is a lime is a lime

Fresh squeezed lime juice is the key ingredient for making a marvelous margarita. The most common lime in the U. S. is the thick skinned Persian lime. In Mexico, the margaritas are made with a Mexican lime or Key lime. Key limes are smaller, thinner skinned and are more tart with a bitter flavor compared to the Persian variety. Due to America’s sweet tooth, a lot of recipes use the prepared margarita mixes that use sugar or fructose corn syrup (and lots of it) along with imitation lime juice. The “Secret Sexiest Margarita” featured on the Sal del Mar website is a more authentic margarita that uses orange liqueur and orange juice for all the sweetness it needs to compliment the fresh limes. So don’t substitute!

Dishing it out

Sal del Mar is a pure unprocessed sea salt that is ideal for all around cooking. It is a coarse, moist salt that is intrinsically beautiful, especially delicious and exotic as well.

You will see that Sal del Mar is not white-white or dry.  It has a shade of grey and feels a bit damp. But if it were white-white and dry, it wouldn't be natural since most table salts that appear really white have been stripped of their natural minerals.

AND...don’t try putting our salt in a salt shaker!  Just pinch with your fingers and drop into the food.

Just knowing about Sal del Mar makes you want to....well, maybe not eat, pray, love, but it will make you want to travel, cook and eat.

Traditional salt harvesting

I discovered how truly miraculous salt making is after visiting the site on the Sea of Cortez where Sal del Mar is harvested.  The process is still based on ancestral methods using controlled salt ponds.  The Sea of Cortez is allowed to flood flat, shallow beds and then a dam is used to trap the water.

The traditional method used allows the water to naturally evaporate as it is dried by the sun, leaving a layer of sea salt. The salt crystals are raked by hand, instead of using big bulldozers like some companies do. The result is a quality product that is handmade and traditional in a world that is increasingly losing the artisan approach.

The pristine coast of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) where Sal del Mar is harvested is characterized by 300 estuaries and other wetlands. The rich community of plant and animal life in these wetlands comprises a unique ecosystem that are key components to the Gulf.