SALT… what makes food taste goooood.

Gwen — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:07:00 +0000

This is a post I’ve wanted to do ever since Melissa’s amazing salt-crusted steak post. Yay procrastination! This is a little ode to one of the most underrated ingredients that shows up in literally every recipe. So here it is: a semi-brief, thoroughly-illustrated run through of the salts that I think every great home cook should have on hand and, most importantly, their uses.

There are 4 salts that I like to have in my pantry at all times: iodized salt, kosher salt, course sea salt, and finishing salt. These cover most everyday Western culinary endeavors a home cook would undertake (for eastern Asian dishes we rely on a stock of soy sauces and fish sauces… alas, another post). Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

First off is iodized table salt.

Yep, that’s right. And who can say no to Morton’s umbrella girl? It’s a classic. But despite its all-around table salt persona, I only keep this around for baking. The minute and evenly shaped crystal size is perfect for distributing through batter, however it has a more acute flavor than other salts, so I tend to add slightly less then what the baking recipe calls for. So why is it call iodized? Cause in the 1920s they added iodine to prevent a rampage of goiter caused by iodine deficiency. Gross.

Next up is kosher salt, the salt I use 95% of the time in my kitchen. Perhaps that’s why it comes in such a big box?

Pictured here is also Morton brand, however I much prefer Diamond Crystal (seen here in Melissa’s steakum pic). In general, kosher salt crystals are larger, yet beautifully uniform bricks. I find Diamond Crystal’s kosher salt exceptional in texture — it’s flakier and easier to break up between your fingertips while sprinkling. This is truly my all purpose salt and I always have it in an easy access dish by my stove. Any dish I’m cooking on the stovetop, any dressings or sauces, any brines or marinades, any slow-cooked dish or roasted item… its in there. By default, I prefer it to be in a portion of the dish that will be cooked, as the kosher salt breaks down extremely quickly with a little heat. If you’re still cooking with iodized salt, please, please give kosher a try. It’ll take a little practice learning to use the right amount since it has a lower salinity than table salt, but you will notice the significant change in quality of your dishes. Oh, btw, despite the Star of David on the box, almost all salts are kosher according to the Jewish rules. It’s just called kosher because there’s no additives, like iodine.

Onto the course sea salt!

A while ago, I was told a story about a little old Italian grandma who swore that to boil a good pasta, the water must have the same salinity as the Dead Sea. Ok, so I got a C in chemistry and I’m not going to pretend to know what the ratio of salt content is in sea water, but I did start adding extra salt ( about 2 -3 times what I originally thought was enough) to the water… and it did make a difference. The pasta had more presence. So I tried it when I boiled potatoes for making mashed potatoes. And again, it made every bite perfectly seasoned. You could use kosher for this method, but I’ve really found that the closest my pot of water can get to tasting like the Dead Sea is with a very hard, course sea salt. I personally think it’s way too hard and inconsistently shaped to use in other cooking methods — it really needs a good stew in hot water to disperse all its salty goodness evenly. Plus, it’s really not an expensive investment (I don’t even know what brand this is, I got it at the local megamart) and this container has lasted me almost a year now.

And finally, for that perfect last touch, finishing salt!

For finishing, I always turn to Maldon Sea Salt, known for it’s beautiful flakiness and giant pyramid-shaped crystals (like the one next to the penny). This is made in Maldon, England using evaporated water from the local estuary. It has a deep, rich salt flavor with a higher salinity than most other salts, so a little goes a long way. It also happens to be Nigella Lawson’s favorite salt, so you can’t go wrong there, can you? If I could afford it, I would probably use it more like kosher salt (Nigella sprinkles it on her famous roast chickens, for example), but for now I use it strictly on a dish I’m not cooking, like a salad or carpaccio, or as just a final sprinkle on a cooked dish before serving. It’s especially lovely on fresh sliced tomatoes or caprese salad. There are a lot of high-end finishing salts, such as gray salt or pink Himalayan salt, but I’ll be sticking with my Maldon, thanks.

So there you are. Whew, a bit long winded, but I hope I helped illuminate some of the grand possibilities of our little salty friend… er. salt. Now go and stock your pantries!!

Ultimate Steakums!

Melissa — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:47:00 +0000

Hello friends! Today I’m going to share with you an ancient knowledge imparted to me by the internets. How to make the perfect steak. If you are anything like I was, then you make terrible steak. It’s grey and bland and if you cooked it on a Foreman Grill, disturbingly flat. No more! Let me show you:

You’ll need:

- steaks of your choice
- kosher salt
- olive oil

Seriously. That’s it.

Step 1:

Salt! Take those steaks and place them on a cutting board, plate, loved one; the surface of your choice. Next, pour kosher salt all over them. Both sides. I’m talking coated. Like this:

I know, it seems questionable. Trust me on this. The salt de-natures any connective tissue in the meat, making it tender and awesome. This method can turn crap steaks very tasty. The crappier the steak, the longer amount of time the salt should be left on. These are filet mignons, cause I’m fancy like that, so I only salted them for about 15 minutes. For lower quality steaks, increase the salting time up to 1 hour. No more than that though, or bad and scary things will happen.

Also, use only kosher salt please! Iodized table salt will only make your steak taste like iodine. I’m sure sea salt would be fine, but kosher is cheaper.

Now that your steaks are all nice and salty, wash all of that salt off. Thoroughly. Or your steak will not be tasty. Don’t you want a tasty steak? I thought you did. There will be enough salt absorbed by the steak to season it. And bonus! It also creates a sexy crust on the outside when you sear it. Which brings us to.

Step 2:

Searing! Get an oven safe pan hot over medium heat. Not stupidly hot, but water should evaporate almost immediately when sprinkled on it. Also, turn your oven on to 400 degrees. Take your rinsed steaks and coat the outside lightly with olive oil. Regular stuff is preferable, the extra virgin stuff will just burn. Now, sear the crap out of those mofos! Both sides please!

I can’t give you a specific time on this, cause all stoves and cookware will vary, but you want a nice, brown crust to form. Like this!

Don’t worry if they’re not super caramelized, the next step will take care of that.

Step 3:

Oven time! Stick them in! I use a probe thermometer, cause I don’t mind a hole in my steaks, but use your preferred method to test doneness. Leave them in until they are done. I prefer my steaks Medium Rare, so I set the alarm on the thermometer to go off at 125 degrees. My hub likes his Medium Well, so his stays in until internal temperature is 145 degrees. Medium, 135 degrees! These numbers probably aren’t exact since quite a bit of the probe is exposed to the oven temperature, but these numbers get me really close. That’s all! Again, I can’t give you time on this, but normally it takes between 10 and 15 minutes in my oven.

Step 4:

Rest! Once you remove the steaks from the oven, allow them to rest for at least 10 minutes. If you skip this, the lovely steak juices will run out and this will make you sad. Cover them up with some tin foil while you finish cooking the rest of your meal.

Step 5:

Devour!!! Serve with some sauteed green beans and mashed potatoes, like I did tonight, or some sweet potato fries. But that’s another post.

i heart yum » kosher salt

SALT… what makes food taste goooood.

Ultimate Steakums!