Feeling Coltish About the Saints

 

Super Bowl Forty-Four has a delicious matchup, does it not? The Indy Colts led by N'awlins son Peyton Manning, going up against those "Les Bon Temps Rouler" N'awlins Saints with Drew Brees.

Delicious, I say, because when you can route for either team to get the V, you can focus on other  important game time elements - like what to serve your gathered fans. I'm routing for Peytie because he was QB at my alma mater, Tennessee, and deserved that Heisman Trophy no matter whom you ask. The voters got it wrong. There, I said it.

On the other hand, I'm routing for Drew because I interviewed him once when he was at San Diego, and he had the stuff that dreams are made of. Just by his demeanor, I knew he had great things ahead of him. He seemed so at ease, laughing at my jokes, jawing about SEC football and passing me his football to hold when I stood next to him for a photo. What a good guy. I remember him saying, "I'm a pretty fun-loving guy. I have the personality to get along with just about anybody. Obviously, I love sports. Walking in the park and seeing guys throwing the football around or hitting a baseball, I'll say, 'Hey, mind if I join you?'" 

As it turned out, he joined the Saints.

Drew's had some nutritional issues over the years and is a big believer in identifying any lurking potential food allergies, then making adjustments. Seems appropriate, then, to serve up party dips that make adjustments in fat and calories but still taste like winners.

Bethenny Frankel's new book SkinnyGirl Dish has several dip recipes that I'm trying out for the game, including the Guilt Free Artichoke and Spinach Dip and the Simply Irresistible Blue Cheese Dip.

According to her book, she created the Blue Cheese Dip, a Lemon Basil Hummus and a Spicy Chipotle Dip  as healthful, low-fat options for the Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals' line of crackers. Frankel is a big believer in taste, so don't expect bowls of glop that make your spirits soggy. Super Bowl Sunday is all about creating and sustaining excitement - the food should do the same, without the downside.

Just spread a table with crackers, chips, bread and raw veggies, along with the dips, and victory is yours.

Allons danser!

In Search of the SkinnyGirl Margarita

I am on the list.

As soon as the Sigel's Liquor Store on Greenville Avenue in Dallas rings me up, I'll be among the first in my village to wrap my hands around the new SkinnyGirl Margarita. According to the landing page for Bethenny Frankel's fresh entry in the SkinnyGirl brand, this product is everything we love about a good marg without the guilt or the calories. This I have to taste, for we take margaritas very seriously in Texas, as does that big state to the West of us, California.

The site says there are only 100 calories per a full 4 oz. serving of SkinnyGirl Marg, with all-natural ingredients and no preservatives or artificial colors. It's said to be lightly sweetened with agave nectar and made from premium, 100% Blue Agave Tequila.

The whole concept of a margarita from a jar - well, a bottle, then - catches me perplexed. But I'm willing to give it a swirl because, gee, what if it works? I'm not one to drink this limey delight over ice, preferring the frozen splendor of tiny ice chips, tequila and Triple Sec that gang up with my good friend, sal, (salt, gringos) for an amazing ritual of tart, sour and sweet sensations when swallowed. I assume that's how SkinnyGirl Margarita is to be consumed - chilled over the rocks.

The first margarita I ever saw was by the sea in Puerto Vallarta, when I was a young girl on her first trip to an exotic world. My father was holding La Margarita for a toast, and I thought it the loveliest beverage I'd ever seen. It looked like liquid jade in the most delicate martini glass, almost the size of a sherry glass. I'll venture to say the drink I saw was not the product of a blender, nor was there any ice in the glass. Just a cool, glimmering concoction that had been carefully combined by hand, the limes coming straight from the market that day.

Was I allowed to taste it? Caramba, of course not, but I never forgot the cool look of it.

In Dallas, you can get yourself a good margarita, but the markup is dreadful, quite appalling, really. Who makes a good one? Lots of places, but here's a rule: If you're ever served one in a glass that's bigger than a beer mug, with an extremely wide bowl at the top, the marg will not be in good taste. I know.

One of my favorites, because it tastes fine and is priced to thrill, is at Monica's Aca y Alla in Deep Ellum. On Sundays, you can buy one for a dollar; limit 3 to a customer. Food to go with the marg is consistently good at Monica's, and the queso among the best around.

I usually take a marg with my order for the "Mexican Flag" enchiladas at Casa Navarro, too, because I love the way the marg looks when served. First impressions, and all that. To color the salt, the glass rim is dipped in some kind of blue beverage. The result? A tall, cool glass of green with a rim of blue at the top, ole! Maybe they got the idea from Mexican bar ware that features the blue rim. As a final gesture, the restaurant adds a straw in the glass, straight up, with half the paper wrap still on it, like a nod to the old soda fountain days. It's marvelous.

As long as the subject is lovely margarita today, here's a recipe that is unusual and beautiful beyond measure, thanks to the step of soaking the tequila in cactus fruit.

Rosy Rita (Warning: Plan well ahead)

Ingredients:
About 10 purple prickly pear cactus fruits (locate in Mexican grocery store)
1 bottle of good-grade tequila
Crushed ice
½ bottle (1 ½ cups) Triple Sec
Limes
Sugar
Directions:
1. Peel each prickly pear fruit and put them in a large glass jar. Pour in tequila so fruits are submerged. Seal and allow to sit for 3 days.
2. For one margarita batch, remove 1 prickly pear fruit and mash the flesh through a large-mesh strainer so you can separate out the seeds and discard them.
3. Put this strained fruit in a blender. Add ½ cup crushed ice, 2 or less shots of the tinted tequila (depending on your taste), 1 shot of Triple Sec (or more, depending on desired sweetness), and juice of 1 lime.
4. Blend until slushy.
(Tip: This foundational recipe may be too bitter, but it will be gorgeous in color, almost bright pink. Be prepared to cut back the tequila, add a little sugar or add more lime juice to even out the taste.)

How I found out about SkinnyGirl Margarita, coming soon.