TEQUILA-CURED SALMON TOSTADAS

"Miguel was served this unique dish in the Mexico City home of Guadalupe Rivera Marín, the daughter of famed muralist Diego Rivera and stepdaughter of artist Frida Kahlo. Miguel was so impressed with the delicious salmon that he requested Guadalupe's permission to re-create the dish at Fonda San Miguel, where he turned the thin strips of salmon into lovely rosettes. The salmon has to be cured in tequila a full day in advance, but the appetizer goes together quickly once the fish is marinated."

4 (6-ounces each) salmon fillets, skin and bones removed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Fine-grain sea salt
1 cup silver tequila
6 to 7 large flour tortillas
2 packages (8-ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon minced chives
24 to 32 small pieces of pimento
24 to 32 thin half-moon slices white or red onion (about one-quarter of a medium onion)
Lemon zest for garnish (optional)

Put each salmon fillet into a nonreactive container; sprinkle both sides with cilantro and sea salt. Add up to 1/4 cup tequila to each container. Seal and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. (The salmon will keep for up to two weeks.)

When ready to assemble the tostadas:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Using a 2-1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut cocktail-size rounds out of the large flour tortillas, about 4 to 5 rounds per tortilla. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven until crisp and golden, about 45 minutes. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese with the minced chives. Set aside.

Remove the fillets from the marinade and pat dry. Using a very sharp paring knife, cut each fillet crosswise into 6 to 8 wafer-thin slices.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture on each tostada. Curl the strips of salmon into rosettes and gently stuff a piece of pimento into the center of each rosette. Place a rosette into the center of each tortilla round and garnish with a half-moon slice of onion and a sprinkling of lemon zest.

Serves 8 (3 to 4 tostadas per person)
Adapted from source: Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art by Tom Gilliland and Miguel Ravago (Shearer Publishing; June 2005)