Election anxiety? Key Lime Martinis and Go With the Flow Curry should alleviate the stress.
(So, the Palm Beach Police just discovered a dead body in the closet of one of our Palm Beach landmark mansions! He was the 1936 Hide and Seek Champion… Very funny, very funny)
Everyone in Palm Beach likes to talk about the candidates, but no one wants to talk about voting, for hanging chads and other ridiculous screw-ups are still an open wound to the once proud community. What to do…
I have just discovered that the waters around Palm Beach have more fish, more wrecks, better reefs and better boats than anywhere in the US. So my dream Election Day will be spent drift diving – flying with the drift- going with the flow- feeling cleansed, reborn and ready to party!
Like running for the presidential nomination, drift diving is an excitingly unique and sometimes dangerous activity. You and your boat journey out to the Gulf Stream, which lies about a mile off shore.
The strong current takes you for miles as your boat tracks your course. With luck, your boat will be there when you run out of air, but like politicians campaigning in Florida, drift divers are sometimes lost at sea—never to be glimpsed again. Yikes! Time for a cool drink and a hot dinner!
KEY LIME MARTINI
2 oz Vanilla flavored vodka
1 0z limejuice
1 oz half and half
Pour ingredients into a sterling silver cocktail shaker partially filled with ice cubes.
Shake well and strain into a chilled crystal cocktail glass.
Serve with a twist of lime.
“GO WITH THE FLOW” WEST INDIAN CURRIED WAHOO
(also delicious with Florida Spiny Lobster)
Serves four
1 1/2 pounds Wahoo (or mahi mahi, kingfish or any other steak-fish) fillets cut into 1/2 inch thick slices.
2 tablespoons lime juice
1-2 cloves minced garlic
freshly ground black pepper.
Marinate for about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400°F
Sauce:
Olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 finely chopped scallions
I yellow pepper, cored seeded and finely chopped
1-2 Tablespoon curry powder
1/2 chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 cup freshly grated coconut that has been made into a velvety extract with a little boiling water…
3/4 fish stock or chicken broth
cayenne pepper to taste
Heat oil and sauté onion, garlic, scallions, and pepper until soft but not browned.
Add curry powder cooking for a minute or so
Add most of the cilantro, coconut milk and stock to the pan, gently simmering for 10-15 minutes.
Place half the curry in a baking dish and arrange the fish pieces on top, spooning the remaining curry on top. Bake until “flakey” about 10 minutes7
Sprinkle with the remaining cilantro
Serve with ginger-flavored rice
(inspired by Steven Raichlen’s “MIAMI SPICE”)