Hi.  My name is Mark and this is my cooking blog.

I get asked a lot for my recipes, so I decided to start this cooking blog.  What you’ll find here will be my recipes and my variations on others’ recipes, my cooking tips and who knows what else. 

I should say up front that I’m lactose intolerant (check out my lactose intolerance site www.nowhey.org) and I also try to live a low-carb lifestyle.  So the recipes you’ll find here will generally be devoid of milk and milk products and try, wherever possible, to be low in carbs.

I hope you enjoy the site and the recipes.

Mark

I wanted to make a sauce that was very flavorful but low in fat, calories and carbs to go with grilled salmon.  I created this one using lime, chipotle chili powder and tequila as the main flavors.  It’s both tart and spicy with a fair amount of heat.  I wanted it to be kind of thick but didn’t want to use a starch (like cornstarch) to thicken it and I also wanted the flavor of the tequila but not the alcohol.  Reducing the sauce solved both problems.  Although I used this for salmon, you could use it on almost anything like grilled chicken or pork chops.  (Probably wouldn’t go so well with beef.)

Ingredients (makes enough sauce for two servings)
Juice from one large lime (approx. 2 tbs)
Zest from the same lime
2 tbs gold tequila
1 tbs Rose’s Lime Juice
1/4 tsp chipotle chile powder
1/4 tsp yellow mustard powder
1/8 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
Salmon (enough for two)

Mix this all in a small bowl.  Start by removing the zest from entire lime.  I use a microplane grater.  Then slice the lime in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl.  Add in the remaining ingredients and stir well.

Pour into a small frying pan and simmer until the volume is reduced by 3/4.  Serve over grilled salmon that has been salted and peppered.

I will make this up ahead of time and transfer to small serving bowl.  When it’s time to serve I give it 20 seconds in the microwave and serve on the side in the same bowl.

Chipotle chile powder should be pretty easy to find in any well stocked grocery store.  It’s made from smoked jalapeno chiles.  If you don’t want to bother finding it, then substitute regular chili powder but don’t add as much (or any) cumin as chili powder already contains it.  To get the smokey flavor, add a few drops of liquid smoke extact.

Rose’s Lime Juice is normally used for making drinks, and it’s a diluted and sweetened lime juice.  If you don’t have any Rose’s, you could substitute 1 1/2 tsp of bottled lime juice, 1 1/2 tsp of water and 1 tsp of sugar.