Recipes by Zola - Salmon Tostadas

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Salmon Tostadas

Zola Gorgon

A Study in Human Nature...

During this time of gift-giving, generosity and the human spirit, I want to talk about courtesy. (Be warned: If you have “gentle ears” you might want to skip directly to the recipe).

I came by my experience with this phenomenon a few days ago. I was at a very special gathering. I was asked by a special friend to cook a lunch/brunch for 125 people and I had to prepare quickly. I only had a couple of days’ notice. The gathering was going to be in Wisconsin, so the first thing I had to do was drive up from Chicago.

My niece lives at my house in Madison (now that I live most of the time in Chicago). I heard she was planning to have a couple of friends come in for the weekend. When my niece heard I was going to be working hard on this event she volunteered herself, her boyfriend and the other couple as help. I was overjoyed and relieved. There was no doubt I needed help. My back is much better, but my body is not ready to carry the full responsibility for a party that big. On my best days I’d still need help.

We made the best of the evening when we were cooking. It was a party atmosphere. Even another good friend, Troy, joined us and made a major effort to help out. It was the wee hours before we finished up for the night and we had to get up at the crack of dawn in order to have the whole event ready for the guests to arrive.

And arrive they did. All 125 of them.

We set out a brunch with Cheesy Hash browns, baked French Toast, Italian Pot Pie, and a whole host of other side items. (You can find the recipes for the hash browns and the pot pie on my website at www.dinnerwithzola.com).

My “crew” set up the buffet tables and it looked gorgeous; down-right professional. In order to feed that many we had to serve in chafing dishes I had rented from A-Z. You couldn’t tell the buffet was set up by a bunch of young adults with no professional cooking experience. It was a sight to behold. I was very proud of this group of young adults.

They volunteered to serve at the event and to keep things tidy as well as clean up after the guests left. That way I could circulate amongst the group.

I kept a slight eye on the buffet table but gave them little advice along the way. They were doing a perfect job.

It wasn’t until after we had the whole party cleaned up that I heard about some of the comments from guests. I won’t go into specific detail but there were times these young adults were treated like minor slaves. Comments were made to them about all kinds of things. (No one was complaining about the food. Thank goodness. They loved the food.)

Here’s one specific example: One of the young adults went up to a woman who was holding an empty plate. It was obvious she had finished her food. There were stains on the plate and her fork was dirty but she was holding it while talking. The crew-person asked if she would like her plate removed so she could chat. The woman laid into the crew-person railing something about, “How dare you! I’m not done! I’m going back to the buffet”. Of course the crew person backed off politely and went to clean up other plates and glasses left behind. On another occasion one of the crew was chewed out for not serving drinks fast enough. (The drinks were served buffet style so the crew person showed her where to get a drink. The drinks were right next to the buffet. They were difficult to miss.) This was just the beginning. I’ll save your ears some of the rest of the borderline insults. (And for those of you who think alcohol was the catalyst. It wasn’t. No alcohol was served).

The interesting thing is that when most of the guests learned these young folks were not part of a catering company, but friends of the woman who orchestrated the cooking on behalf of the hostess, they turned 180 degrees in their language and attitude. When they found out, they were not only courteous, but full of compliments and thankfulness.

My question, is what’s the difference? The young adults didn’t change clothes; didn’t change faces. They were still the same people. Why is it that when some people think you work for a caterer you are a target for abuse and when you are a “friend of the family” it’s completely different? I don’t think it is different.

If I ever had an inkling of starting a catering company, that experience pretty much killed it.

In this time of holiday spirit, parties and generosity I’d love it if you’d help me promote courtesy to those who serve us all. In America we have a lot to learn. I daresay it may be a worldwide phenomenon.

Bless you all as keepers of the faith in the kindness of mankind.

Now, for the recipe. This recipe was inspired by one of Bobby Flay’s recipes. Bobby’s my hero when it comes to Southwestern cooking. He’s done the research. He’s lived over and over in Mexico, living the life. His recipes are authentic; which many times means lots of work, special preparation and several ingredients. This one is a simpler, kinder version. As my fans would say, “it’s been Zola-fied”.

Salmon Tostadas
Serves 4, can be doubled

4 large flour tortillas. The plate-sized ones usually used for burritos.
Peanut oil
4 salmon filet pieces. You decide the size. Skinless is preferred
Olive oil spray
Lime-based marinade in a jar. You decide the brand. You are looking for something sort of tropical.
30 oz. of Black (Kuner brand) Southwestern beans. You can use regular canned black beans, rinsed and drained and then add cumin and cayenne or chili powder if you cannot find the Kuner ones. The Kuner beans do not need to be drained. They are in a sauce.
12 oz of tropical fruit, cubed. You can use a single fruit or a mixture of things like papaya, mango, pineapple etc. You can even used canned fruit.
One half of a small red onion, diced finely
One half of a jalapeno, minced finely
1 Tbl of olive oil
Grated Sea salt

15 minutes before you want to cook, put your salmon in a glass container and drizzle on a half-cup of marinade. Let sit. Don’t marinade too long or marinades with citrus in them will start to “cook” the fish.

Heat peanut oil in a large sauté pan. You’ll need enough to float the tortilla shells one at a time. I use about an inch or maybe a little less. Heat it on high and when it’s ready turn it down to medium. How do you know it’s ready? A couple of ways…it starts to shimmer. You can cut off a small piece of tortilla and gently put in into the oil. If it gets browned quickly and the oil starts to dance while it fries it, it’s ready. Another way is to get a bit of water on your hand and flick it at the oil. If it bounces back off the oil is ready. Just be careful not to burn yourself.

Put each tortilla in the oil and fry until lightly golden brown on one side. Then flip over using a tong. This will only take a minute at most. Drain on paper towels. They will be crisp discs.

Take salmon out of marinade and sauté on medium high, in a pan sprayed with olive oil. You’ll decide how long to sauté depending on how you like your salmon. If you want no pink in the middle, about 5 minutes per side will do it.

While the salmon cooks heat the beans in a sauce pan and make your salsa.

For the salsa:

In a glass bowl, add your fruit, the jalapeno, olive oil and a grate of sea salt. Toss to mix. This is not a spicy, hot salsa. It has just the right amount of zip.

To serve:

Place each tortilla on a large dinner plate.

Cover with warm beans leaving a crisp rim on the outer edge.

Next place the salsa in the middle, on top of the beans

And finally, the salmon on top.

Drizzle with a bit more marinade (from the jar; not from the marinating pan) and you are ready to serve.

It’s a colorful, flavorful and fairly healthful meal. Nice on a winter day when you feel like salad but want more depth to your meal.

Start the meal with guacamole and chips and you have a party!

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.

This news arrived on: 11/26/2007

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