Apropos of New Chips

Apropos of nothing in particular, here's a tequila recipe.

Actually, to be frank, the idea popped up when I discovered a new "chip" in the grocery this afternoon.

One of the local Mexican restaurant chains, Chevys, specializes in freshly baked chips, familiar to devotees of that establishment, by its glorious greasy shine and texture, nothing like the dry, dull, oversalted variety so often encountered these days in Gringo country.  

They are "Have'a Corn Chips" of Laguna Beach CA 92651, whose makers have perfected the trick of packaging their chips with the oil still on them.

I put them in the oven to heat them up to warm, and paired them with a half pint of fresh guacamole. 

Wow, almost as good as Chevys!

It's all about the oil, I think. They come in small packages, about enough for 2-3 people to consume in one sitting. I suspect that they'd quickly go rancid once exposed to air, even in the ice-box. Perishable. 

In the Bay Area, tequila drinks have shoved most other goods aside, but I'm no more partial to tequila than I would be if I lived in Seattle, or Portland, Maine. I've mixed plenty of tequila concoctions, and the variety is endless. 

Here's a nice sort of variation on the margarita formula, though you could skip the salt around the rim, since the chips carry enough salt by themselves.    

The biscuit amaretto liqueur is proprietary, but it's close enough to regular Amaretto liqueur that you could substitute that. The cachaca is also proprietary, but again, I think various brands could be used. Cachaca has a sort of "hot" quality, which the sweet ingredients temper.  

1 1/2 parts tequila silver

1/2 part cachaca

1/2 part amaretto biscuit liqueur

1/2 part pineapple juice

squeeze of wedge of lime

served stirred over ice into chilled short glasses

Summer is coming. I'll say no more.