Southern Fusion Dinner

Salmon-Cucumber-Watermelon Montage with Peach Margaritas


I decided to try an interesting combination of flavors that I thought would go well together.

Smoked Salmon (Lox)

English ‘seedless’ cucumber

1/3 cup Sugar

1/3 cup Berry Vodka

½ a small watermelon

First I am a Glace’ or ‘Ice’ person. I often make these for palate cleansers, but this time I wanted to try using it in an appetizer. I took the watermelon, cut out chunks of flesh to put in food processor, processed; then I put the mash in a food mill (fine) and ran the mash through. The result was several cups of watermelon liquid. [Note: you could use a sieve instead of a food mill.] Mix in sugar until dissolved, mix in berry vodka.

If you’re thinking that adding sugar to watermelon is a bit over-the-top, the truth is the added sugar helps keep the liquids from freezing into a solid block. You could add more vodka and create the same effect.

When all is well combined, I placed the mixture in a flat rectangular storage tray so that the liquid was about ¾ inches thick, and then popped it in the freezer. It froze to just the right consistency so that I could use a fork to separate the crystals easily by scrapping from the top.

Cucumber – I took off the rind; then used a hand-held cheese cutter to shave thin slices off. These I then cut on a diagonal into pieces about ¾ inch long.

Salmon – I took one long strip of the lox for each plate and rolled it, used a toothpick to hold.

Putting it together: A small pile of flaked watermelon glace’ went on the bottom, Cucumber pieces next, then Salmon on top. This combination was very yummy.

Next time: I think I would coarsely chop the cucumber and salmon and make layers this way. It would be easier for the diner to enjoy all the flavors together.

Peach Margaritas

Tequila – I used a pretty good brand of Silver Tequila; use what you like

Ripe peaches

Peach schnapps or peach flavored liquor

Fresh-squeezed Lime juice

Sugar -- optional

This is kind of up to you how much of what you want in the drink, but for a stronger margarita add more Tequila, for less strong use more ice, peaches, and or schnapps. I used approximately 2 to 1 Tequila to schnapps. You don’t really need much more sweetness with this recipe, but you can add sugar to taste.

Peel peaches and add flesh to blender, add remaining ingredients and blend until peaches are well-minced. Put liquid through a medium mesh sieve and smush down with spoon to get as much of the fresh peach through. Return to blender, add ice, blend until fine.

You can serve with the ice (if you blender gets it really fine), or run the drink through a sieve again and serve immediately. Very nice.

Enjoy!

Joe Koob