El Restaurante Mexicano
Summer 2000
Margarita Scallops
Tequila
At the Bar and Beyond
By Kathleen Furore
Editor, El Restaurante Mexicano
Abridged from El Restaurante Mexicano, Summer 2000
©2000 Maiden Name Press LLC
If you're looking for ways to perk up your menu, look no further than the bar for an ingredient that will add great flavor to drinks and dinner items alike.
Tequila, best known as the potent liquor served in a shot glass with a lime wedge and salt and as the potable that gives Margaritas their punch, has gone beyond the bar and into kitchens from coast to coast.
"It's great to cook with; it adds a lot of depth and a little sweetness," says Chef Isaac Mejia, owner of Don Pico's Mexican Bistro in San Bruno, Calif., who uses tequila in everything from pastries to entrees featuring sea food and pork. "I like to use it for finishing off plates. It blends well with butter."
Jacqueline Higuera McMahan, author of "California Rancho Cookbook," "The Salsa Book" and "The Chipotle Chile Cook Book," agrees. "In Mexico, tequila is still typically thought of as a liquid refreshment. But in the last couple of years, it has sneaked into my cooking," reports McMahan, who says the liquor has a "toastiness and spiciness that enhance flavors.
Jacqueline Higuera McMahan, author of "California Rancho Cookbook," The Salsa Book" and "The Chipotle Chile Cook Book," agrees. "In Mexico, tequila is still typically thought of as a liquid refreshment. But in the last couple of years, it has sneaked into my cooking," reports McMahan in her column in the San Francisco Chronicle. McMahan says the liquor has a "toastiness and spiciness that enhance flavors."
"Premium tequilas, which are aged in oak, can have nuances of spice, herbs and honey, which marry well with spicy foods," she adds. "I've found that adding just a splash of tequila to a marinade or a dash of tequila to a sauce as it's simmering or reducing adds a mysterious touch."
Tequila-infused food
At Don Pico's, located just outside San Francisco, customers can find that "mysterious touch" in the popular tequila-tamarind salmon, the adobo pork chops marinated in tequila and the tequila-soaked tres leches cake.
The seafood selection is a cut of salmon pan-crusted on a cast iron skillet, then sautéed with butter, roasted garlic and tequila. "I burn it off, then add tamarind pulp. It gives a beautiful glaze and the fish still stays crunchy," Mejia says.
The chef's popular pork chops are marinated in tequila with adobo, seared in an iron skillet and finished off with a tequila-butter glaze, which gives the meat "an unbelievable flavor," according to Mejia.
His tres leches dessert features sponge cake or pound cake soaked in tequila and rompope and served with raspberry or tamarindo reduction.
Tequila also pumps up the flavor of food at the Chevys Fresh Mex chain. Executive Chef Peter Serantoni, who oversees the standard, special and seasonal menus at all Chevys and Rio Bravo restaurants nationwide, adds tequila to dishes including the savory Margarita scallops and chocolate tequila bread pudding, two recipes showcased in the new "The Chevys and Rio Bravo Fresh Mex Cookbook" published by Ten Speed Press.
The idea for the scallops (which are seared and then sizzled in a tequila, lime and chile marinade) came about almost by accident. One of the chain's chefs was eating scallops during a break when a server walked by and said, "How about a Margarita with those?" The Margarita scallops have been a popular menu item ever since. The cookbook recommends putting the scallops on plates garnished with lime wedges and cilantro. But for a clever, eye-catching presentation, consider serving them in a Margarita glass (as on our cover).
The chocolate tequila bread pudding (which, in a departure from Chevys' Fresh Mex philosophy, features day-old French bread that Serantoni says is "drier and soaks up more of the good stuff") includes 1/4 cup of tequila whisked together with eggs, milk, Kahlua and vanilla. The mixture is poured over bread slices that have been topped with melted butter, pineapple and chocolate chips.
Tequila is also a key ingredient in the cream of avocado & tequila soup featured in "New Cooking from Old Mexico," the most recent offering from author and Mexican/Southwestern food expert James Peyton. The cool and creamy soup, which combines 21/2 tablespoons of tequila with avocados, cilantro and serrano chiles, would make a terrific addition to summertime menus.
Reprinted with
permission from
Chevys & Rio Bravo Fresh Mex® Cookbook. Photography by Frankie Frankeny. Copyright © 2000. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA
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Margarita Scallops Serves 4 |
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| 1/4 | c. tequila | ||
| 1 | c. freshly squeezed lime juice | ||
| 1/2 | c. freshly squeezed lemon juice | ||
| 1/2 | c. sugar | ||
| 1-2 | jalapeños, stemmed, seeded and coarsely chopped | ||
| 3/4 | c. of 1/2-in. green onion pieces | ||
| 1 | c. chopped cilantro leaves | ||
| 1 | t. garlic | ||
| 1/2 | t. salt | ||
| 1 | lb. large sea scallops | ||
| 1 | T. olive oil | ||
| 1 | lime, quartered | ||
| 3 | t. minced cilantro | ||
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Place all ingredients except scallops and olive oil in a blender or food processor and purée. Taste the mixture and add more jalape¤o as desired. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and set aside. Rinse scallops in cold water, and pat dry. In a non-stick sauté pan over high heat, heat the olive oil just until smoking. Add the scallops to the sauté pan and sear well without stirring or tossing. Add the citrus mixture to the pan, and bring to a boil. When the liquid reaches a boil, turn the scallops and cook for a minute more. Remove the scallops, cover to keep warm, and reduce the sauce to half its original volume over high heat. To serve, divide the scallops among the plates. Pour the liquid from the pan directly over the plates. Garnish with lime wedges and cilantro.
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Reprinted with permission from New Cooking from Old Mexico by James Peyton. Reprinted with permission Red Crane Books
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Cream of Avocado & Tequila Soup Serves 4 |
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| 1 | lb. (about 2 large) avocados, weighed whole | ||
| 1 | c. freshly squeezed orange juice | ||
| 1/4 | t. grated orange peel | ||
| 2-1/2 | T. tequila | ||
| 2 | sm. serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced | ||
| Heaping 1/2 | t. salt | ||
| 3 | T. fresh cilantro, minced | ||
| 3 | c. unsalted chicken broth | ||
| 4 | cilantro leaves | ||
| 1/2 | t. ground cumin | ||
| 1/2 | t. paprika | ||
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Chill all ingredients except the salt, cumin and paprika in the refrigerator for several hours before preparing the soup. Cut the avocados in half around the seeds, scoop out the meat, and put it in a blender. Add the orange juice, orange peel, tequila, serrano chiles, salt, and cilantro, and blend until pureed. Add the chicken broth and blend, until well combined. Ladle the soup into small bowls or cups. Place a cilantro leaf in the center of each cup or bowl, sprinkle a little cumin on one side and some paprika on the other side, and serve. The soup can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 hours before serving.
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1. a) anejo
2. b) blanco
3. c) reposado
Tequila hasn't abandoned the bar, of course. Considering the Margarita is America's most popular cocktail, according to recent statistics from Beverage magazine Market Watch, and that the consumption of premium tequilas is on the rise, it seems likely customers will welcome and probably pay top prices for new drinks made with tequila.
In the "El Paso Chile Company Margarita Cookbook," for example, author W. Park Kerr offers recipes for hot 'n' cold chile tequila and mango Margarita a la mode.
The peppery chile tequila isn't for the faint-hearted. But it's a good bet you'll get customers to try (at least once!) the spicy, syrupy cold drink (best served straight from the freezer) that's made with best-quality silver tequila, two jalapeños, a scallion, serrano, dried red chile and garlic. You also can use the tequila in Texatinis (the Mexican version of a martini) and in Bloody Marias (the south-of-the-border cousin of Bloody Marys).
The sorbet-accented mango Margarita is a smooth and soothing concoction especially suited to warm- weather drinking and dining. As Kerr says in his book, "A golden mango Margarita is a very fine thing indeed though it's even better when a small scoop of berry sorbet is set afloat in it."
Kerr recommends raspberry or strawberry sorbet, which add the best color. Mango and Margarita sorbets (try Haagen-Dazs, he suggests) are also appropriate, says Kerr, who notes this drink "is one of the few Margaritas that is better without salt."
