Give a Mermaid this Holiday Season

For the last 10 months, I have been working on producing a holiday bag design for Sal del Mar. It has been exciting from start to finish. It started with an off-handed comment from a retail store owner in Tucson who loves our original palm tree and sea creature design, but said, "you should have a mermaid embroidered on your bags..."

With the idea incubating in my head, I asked Paula Hamilton to sketch a design featuring a whimsical mermaid surrounded by waves holding a seashell and we added a jaunty Santa's hat for the holidays.

To make a long story short, I gave the sketches to our group of embroiderers in Sabinito, Sonora, Mexico and they created their own version of "a mermaid in a Santa hat" and voila, we had our “Holiday Mermaid.” The embroiderers are the most important part of our team -- their artistic freedom allows each embroiderer to create a unique bag that we then fill with Sal del Mar gourmet sea salt. The result is a masterpiece of naive beauty.

Well, I received the first delivery of our Holiday Mermaids, and they are ready just in time for early holiday shoppers. The unfortunate/fortunate news is that the she is available in a limited number -- one has to remember that the Sal del Mar bags are all hand-crafted and not mass produced.

Hopefully you will like the Holiday Mermaid design as much as I do. You can buy them on our website or at specialty boutiques around the country and Mexico. Feliz Fiesta!

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!

Finally a perfect salt dish

We have hunted for the perfect salt dish for a long time and finally enlisted our absolute favorite designers, Linda Poverman and Paula Hamilton, to produce it.
Paula has been designing our embroidered bags among other Sal del Mar projects; Linda has been an art teacher and recently is going in another direction with her talents. We told Linda and Paula that we wanted a salt dish that reflects Sal del Mar’s simple, artistic and unique style. They took the theme and ran with it.
They started with white earth clay and molded a bowl by hand topped with a handcrafted fish medallion. Then they fired it, but left it without a glaze. We could not ask for a salt dish that works better for holding our coarse, moist, somewhat grayish Sal del Mar. (If it were white and dry, it wouldn’t be natural since most table salts have been striped of their natural minerals.) We have already been using the newly created Sal del Mar salt dish at our own dinner table. We can now just pinch with our fingers and drop into the food. You will be able to buy the Sal del Mar salt dish on-line soon.

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.

A little bit French ... a little bit Italian, hors d'oeuvres

I know that it isn’t tomato season yet, but I couldn’t resist posting this recipe because I am really hungry for tomatoes after the long winter. And what is so great about this recipe is that you use cherry tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes seem much more flavorful than the larger varieties early in the season.

This recipe is a little bit French and a little bit Italian. I found it in a beautiful book, The Heirloom Tomato by Amy Goldman. Even though the recipe has just a little salt added here and there, using Sal del Mar really intensifies the flavors.

INGREDIENTS:
BAKED RICOTTA CHEESE
1 1/2 pounds whole-milk ricotta cheese
1//4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse-ground pepper

SHERRY SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Sal del Mar to taste
3 tablespoons finely diced shallots
1/2 cup pure olive oil
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

CHERRY TOMATO SALAD
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
Sal del Mar to taste
Freshly-ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

TAPENADE
1 cup Nicoise olives
1 garlic clove
Sal del Mar as needed
4 oil packed anchovies
1 1/2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

8 1/4-inch thick slices rustic bread
Pure olive oil as needed

For the tapenade:  Remove pits from the olives. Make a garlic paste by slicing the garlic clove thin, sprinkling with Sal del Mar, and using the flat of your knife to mash the garlic into a fine paste. Place the anchovies, garlic paste, and capers in the a bowl of a food processor. Process until almost smooth. Add the olives and pulse until finely chopped and spreadable but not pasty. Transfer the mixture to another bowl and stir in the olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

For the bread slices:  Brush lightly with olive oil and grill until crispy or toast them in a 400-degree oven, flipping once, until browned.

For the cherry tomatoes: Make the vinaigrette by mixing the vinegars and Sal del Mar. Add the shallots and soak for 30-minutes. Whisk in the olive oils. Taste and adjust with additional vinegar, oil or Sal del Mar. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and mix with the vinaigrette one hour before serving. Season with salt and pepper. Combine in a bowl with a wooden spoon, working gently so as not to bruise the tomatoes.

For the ricotta cheese: In a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Place the mixture into an oval gratin dish that has been greased with olive oil. Smooth the top and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Grind the pepper over the top. Bake on a foil-lined sheet pan until the cheese is heated through and a golden-brown crust forms on top. Cool at room temperature, about 25-minutes.

Serve the tomato salad, baked ricotta cheese, tapenade and grilled bread on separate dishes and have guests make their own delicious hors d'oeuvres.

Perfectly simple hors d'oeuvres

I'm always in search of new hors d'oeurves and found one that is very simple but one that I would never have thought of at the Abbey, a restaurant in Tucson. It is a recipe that truly highlights the flavor of  Sal del  Mar.

A walnut rustic bread or any rustic bread Whipped unsalted butter Dash of Sal del Mar

Place bread, butter and Sal del Mar separately on serving platter. Enjoy by spreading butter on a slice of rustic bread and a pinch of Sal del Mar according to your taste.  Buen Provecho!