My friend Steve makes a hell heck of a good great chicken on the BBQ grill. His secret is something I have seen on TV many times, but never in person. An open beer (in the can) is used as a stand for a whole chicken, and the chicken then sits on this little hops-filled throne while cooked in a gas or charcoal grill. Steve swears he has tried every beer under the sun, and the cheaper beers work the best as long as they are not the ‘lite’ or even ‘light’ version. Of course the beer not only works as a way to secure the chicken in an upright position, but it also provides steam and flavor that permeates the chicken.

Recently Steve made his famous whole chicken for me using Chef’s Blend as a rub for the outside of the bird prior to grilling. He cleaned the entire chicken first, then hand dried it, rubbed it with olive oil and liberally applied Chef’s Blend to the chicken’s skin (more than just at typical rub, he actually applied force as he pressed the Chef’s Blend onto the outside of the chicken). He then opened a can of a beer I only thought was available at ball parks, took a swig, and sat the whole chicken on the beer in an upright position. This whole set-up then was placed in a pre-heated grill to cook for about 45 minutes to an hour. Obviously your time may vary based on the heat of your grill and size of your bird, but the goal is to have a very crisp skin and of course cook the chicken entirely through (always take care to make sure chicken is properly cooked). The steam from the beer kept the chicken very moist as it cooked away. Steve checked on it periodically, but mostly left the chicken alone as to keep the steam inside the bbq to work its tasty magic.

Once the chicken was done, he pulled it out and let it ‘rest’ for another 10 minutes with a bit of aluminum foil draped over the top to keep the heat focused on the bird. He then carefully pulled the chicken off the top of the beer can and threw the can away (it had served its purpose, but take care that when you do this at home you are mindful the beer in the can is still boiling hot). Once we carved into the chicken it was clear that this method was brilliant since everything bit was moist and full of flavor. The crispy skin melted in your mouth with the taste of the Chef’s Blend adding a salty/spicy kick.

As a side course, Steve paired some potatoes which were prepared with Windy City Celery salt to boost the terrific flavor. The recipe was easy — cut up Yukon Gold potatoes and put them on tinfoil. Splash on some olive oil, butter, parsley and Windy City Celery salt. Throw this whole thing on the grill. Remove when the outside of the potatoes become crispy and remember to reposition the potato pieces often to have them cook evenly. Delicious and easy.

Anyway, Steve showed me once again that a fantastic meal does not require a lot of time, ingredients or even special skills. Having the right salts on hand makes a huge difference and transformed this dinner from good to absolutely amazing. We are anxious to explore more of the ‘beer can’ method and welcome your comments/experience notes.

Salt and summer. Sunny weekend afternoons. And summer drinks, of course. It just all goes together perfectly. For me (and my statistically insignificant and 100% unscientific poll indicates most people in this world feel the same way), the quintessential summer drink is the tangy margarita (on the rocks) with a salt crusted rim. The salt balances out the bitter tartness of the lemon and lime in the margarita, and provides the perfect refreshing flavor, especially on steamy hot days. Interestingly, sodium is an essential nutrient that is lost when we sweat (here is an article from a website for runners that sums up how it all works). In fact, if you look at most exercise drinks, they contain higher than expected sodium content as part of the ‘secret recipe’ that helps athletes regain electrolytes lost during strenuous activity.

Why this background is at all interesting to us, the informed and hungry salt consumer, is simply a question of the manner in which the margarita evolved to its in enlightened state for which we now get to enjoy it. How did this seemingly perfect drink take the prescribed format we have come to expect? Perhaps the margarita is so delicious and refreshing during hot summer months because this is when our bodies physically crave salt the most. It is said that some deep wired parts of the ancient human brain developed to instinctually drive us to consume items that our bodies require to stay healthy (or alive). Our own evolution allowed the reinforcement of this survival instinct by rewarding us with a pleasurable experience when we eat/drink something that keeps our bodies working in good order. Of course I have no idea if this is the actual reason behind why margaritas taste so dang amazing, but it is fun to theorize a mind/body justification for why we love them so much.

Margaritas are really the beginning of the ‘rimmer’ craze. Restaurants and bars have gone into overdrive offering different sugar, salt, and even chocolate options for every drink you can imagine. And we are rewarded with tasty combinations that add further complexity to those cocktails we already know and love. The term ‘rimmer’ makes complete descriptive sense and yet, simultaneously, I think we can all agree it is also an unfortunate name. Really I do not have a better option (yet), and I doubt I have much sway with the rimmer/bar/restaurant terminology community anyway, so RIMMER it is!

The picture above is from a beautiful new patio bar in Chicago at the Trump Tower called “16″ (it is on the 16th floor of the building). This is a play on the classic margarita with a touch of coconut flavored rum.  But the real excitement is on the rim, as it is crusted in a mixture of fleur de sel and dried flaked coconut.  The blend draws out all of the flavors in the drink and leaves a wonderfully refreshing after taste. Drinks that we have been enjoying this summer with Beyond the Shaker salts include strawberry daiquiris with a Citrus Basil rimmer and Bloody Mary’s with Hot Habenero or Windy City Celery along the rim.

It appears that rimmers are here to stay, and although the term is slightly strange, the resulting flavor is not to be ignored. We love this rimmer trend, and we plan to continue to push the envelope with matching great drinks with Beyond the Shaker premium gourmet salts and blends.

You know you’re supposed to add salt to the boiling water when cooking pasta, but why?  Does anyone really know?  And do you really have to?

Everyone seems to have an opinion in this, and no one seems to agree.  Let’s go through the common beliefs about the add-salt-to-boiling-water method for cooking and get to the bottom of this once and for all.

Adding salt to water will raise the boiling point so the water will get hotter and cook the pasta faster.
FALSE: Yes, salt can and does raise boiling point of water (salt is a total chemistry nerd!), but in cooking applications, this rise in temperature is negligible.  The ratio of salt to water for cooking pasta would only raise the boiling point by the tiniest sliver of a degree and therefore barely reduce the cooking time of your pasta.  It would maybe be ready a blink sooner than it would be without the salt.

Salt prevents the pasta from sticking together.
FALSE: Salt will actually do nothing to prevent stickiness in your pasta.  The only way to prevent your pasta from sticking together is to make sure you have a good-size pot with enough water to allow your pasta to move around (six quarts of water for each pound of pasta will do),  and stirring it occasionally to keep it from clumping together—especially during the first few minutes of cooking when the pasta is at it’s stickiest.  A little olive oil added to drained/dry pasta will help keep it from sticking after it’s been cooked, too.

Salt keeps the water from boiling over.
FALSE: Though that sure would be nice!  I knew this one was fishy when I realized that people out there believe that adding salt to boiling water will actually cause it to boil over (also false).   How could some people think it causes boiling over and other people think it prevents boiling over?  I mean, it has to be one or the other, right?  Well, it’s neither.  It has no affect on the boiling overness of your pot of water.  You can prevent something from boiling over by making sure you have an appropriate-sized pot for you pasta with the appropriate amount of water (funny, that helps the pasta from sticking together, too!) and keeping an eye on the heat (simply turning the heat down will keep it from boiling it over—shocking!).

Salt enhances the flavor of the pasta.
TRUE: DING DING DING, WE HAVE A WINNER! We, of course, already knew that salt enhances flavor, so this really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.  Salt’s purpose is simple: it gives the pasta a boost of flavor so it’s not bland.  Pasta is a dehydrated food, and the absorption of the boiling water is what cooks it and brings it to life. If the water is salted, then the pasta is able to absorb that flavor as well.

Now that we know that salt’s purpose is simply for taste, that opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for our pasta cooking routine.  Adding a tasty blended salt, like the Beyond Blends French Herb salt, which will infuse your pasta with a delicate taste that will compliment your sauce, vegetables, or any other accoutrements for your dish.

I’m so glad the pressure is off salt to perform some miraculous function with the water and pasta, and it can just do what it does best: add flavor!

Sitting here writing up a new recipe for the use of our Herb Garden Blend in a salt bake application, I got to thinking about the ‘recipe’ as its own genre of writing in literature. The purists in the crowd are probably rolling their eyes, but seriously, why don’t we think of recipes in a different light? Maybe it is because these are directions or instructions, like assembly of child’s bike or setting up some software on a computer. But then that begs the question, why do we even hold these writings in such low regard?

Perhaps I look at the mere recipe differently now that I have written and collaborated on so many, but really, any guide, instructions, directions, FAQ, or other ‘documentation’ contains at least a modicum of creativity which may be of interest to the wayward reader. Will I ever curl up on cool fall evening with the instruction manual for my Pro-Shox treadmill? I cannot really envision this situation, but perhaps if the manual was written in a different way, or there was some extrinsic entertainment value outside of just instructing me on how to tighten the treadmill belt…then maybe I would be more inclined to reach for this particular ‘book’. Simply writing these recipes has taught me that the author must be cognizant of the purpose behind the recipe, which then of course influences the approach toward the task. If my entire goal is to clearly describe for another person how to use several ingredients to create one final unified product, than that is of course completely different from an aim of entertaining the reader. During the recipe writing process, I am also thinking about my audience, and what they hope to gain from reading this recipe. More often than not, when compiling these recipes, I find myself writing for the reader, which is a departure from my own personal creative writing process.

Anyway, I do believe there is more here, and it will become increasingly clear as I draft, edit, revise and complete more recipes. For now, I am simply struck by the fact that until this point in time, I never thought of the recipe (or any directions or manual, for that matter) as anything more than a means to an end. Do A, B, C and D, then you end up with Z. Personally, the act of performing A, B, C and D, always had plenty of entertainment value, and maybe this is why I enjoy shows like “How it is Made” that highlight the steps of creation. Methodology and process are critical to the art, but they seem to be lost when we only focus on the final product. Half the fun of cooking and the discovery of a hobby-chef in the kitchen is about the process. Heck, the truth is most people reading this blog or purchasing Beyond the Shaker premium gourmet salts, probably do not have to cook their meals to survive, but instead could just buy already prepared food. We cook at home and for other people because of something more than just mere sustenance and survival.

So what was once just a rote, almost numerical equation, becomes a trip through possibilities, adventure, success and sometimes failure. And we cook more, refine our process, educate ourselves, and hopefully improve. Along the way we learn not only about cooking, but about creation and we derive some entertainment from the whole of it. At least that is the goal.

I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for fancy chocolates.  They’re just fun, compact little treats that bring a smile to my face and my stomach (assuming a stomach can ACTUALLY smile).

But it’s not just the pretty little treats you find behind the glass at your local candy shop..what I really like are the new wave of chocolate bars that are gracing the aisles of our favorite grocery stores.  I usually get my groceries at Whole Foods, and they have this amazing ability to draw me in like a moth to light with their displays of fun chocolate bars and other chocolate fare.  The labels are like sirens on the rocks, calling to me: 80% Cacao, Hazelnut, Mint—but in my latest visit, it was one siren’s song that finally drew me in: Dagoba’s organic chocolate with hemp, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and a touch of fleur de sel sea salt.

I had to get it.  How could I not?  How could I resist something like that? No way jose!

Dagoba has so many enchanting varieties of chocolate, and this one was no different.  The perfect balance of salt to sweet—that touch of fleur de sel sea salt is not lost on you at all.  It’s definitely there, filling out the nutty, chocolaty flavors.

It’s not decadent, though—it feels entirely nutritious in the most delicious kind of way.

I took a look at their website, and sure enough, they feel the same way about this little delight: Dark chocolate with omega-rich hemp seeds, heart healthy pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and a touch of Balinese sea salt. An energetic combination of power foods for body and mind in a base of our delicious 68% dark chocolate.

We have experimented a bit with salt and chocolate here at Beyond the Shaker, and we have found that Citrus Basil is incredible when lightly sprinkled on dark or milk chocolate. The citrus notes combined with sweet basil, really highlights the rich chocolate. In our taste tests, the other Beyond Blend that really teased out interesting depth of flavor from dark chocolate was the smoky sweet Hickory Maple blend. Again, we recommend only using a a touch of salt on the chocolate as you do not want to overpower the sweetness of the dark chocolate.

Other salts in our Pure Foundation collection that seem obvious for chocolate experimentation include Murray River, Sel Gris or Cyprus Black Lava (for light salinity, grey color and crunchy texture). If you are willing to be a bit adventurous (and yes, we will be trying these options soon), the following salts from our Beyond Blends collection may make the perfect pair for chocolate – Everest Wet salt, Truffle Wet Salt (oh yes), or Hot Habanero (heat and sweet are a great combo).

Ok, time to go find some chocolates of my own…

So simple and yet so yummy – that is the philosophy behind this uber-flavorful lunch recipe that really requires very little time or effort. The trick of course is the use of Beyond the Shaker Garlic Shallot salt with its organic garlic and shallot which adds a pungent zing to the sandwich and also a delightful textural element with the crunch of salinity.

There is one special piece of hardware you need for this sandwich, which is a panini press. These are sold at Target, Walmart, or just about any other major home store or you can get one on Amazon (this is the one we use).

Your other option is to just skip the special hardware and use a two skillet method whereby you have the sandwich in a buttered pan on the stove, and then you heat the bottom of another skillet which you use as your ‘press’ on top of the sandwich. Make sure to put a little butter on the top of the sandwich too before you apply the other skillet (see why an actual panini maker is easier!?!?).

The ingredients for this sandwich include:

1 tablespoon of Garlic Shallot (you can add more to taste)
2 slices of your favorite mild cheese (we used swiss for its nutty flavor)
4-6 leaves of spinach
2 leaves of arugula (you can use any lettuce really, but we like the slight spice of arugula)
1 piece of flat bread (really any type of flat pita works)
3 slices of turkey lunch meat (obviously you can skip this if you want or try another protein)

To make this sandwich all you do is place your ingredients in the bread (on one side) top with the sprinkle of Garlic Shallot, fold the bread over, and place it in your pre-heated panini maker (we used the ‘high’ setting because we were dang hungry at the time). Check the sandwich often as you want to stop cooking it when the cheese begins to hint at melting out of the bread – about 5 minutes of total cook time. We then waited a minute for the cheese to cool before we cut the sandwich into strips. The Garlic Shallot infuses all the ingredients with an amazing flavor, and the salts retain their crunchy texture which is a delightful treat as you mow through this sandwich. Enjoy!

Foodies love to predict trends for the upcoming year – what chefs will serve in their restaurants, what the masses will cook at home. For the last decade, one trend continues: globalization and variety. Americans are becoming more adventurous and embracing cuisines from around the world. They are experimenting with exotic produce, fish, spices and seasonings at home. 2009 sees the increasing use of spices and seasonings inspired by international cuisine to bring some variety to our daily meals.

Try the following exotic blends and wet salts from Beyond the Shaker to shake things up!
-Hot Habanero Blend: Bring the flavors of Mexico to your kitchen with this blend that includes several types of chilis (including habanero) and cilantro for a burst of heat and flavor. Use of Hawaiian Black Lava and Red Alaea salts bring bountiful salinity, incredible texture, and a radiant color to the blend. Try it on snapper, chicken, tacos, salsa and more.
-Citrus Basil Blend: G’day mate! This blend uses Murray River salt and lemon myrtle, both hailing from Australia.  Combined with other organic citrus ingredients, this blend tastes great on chicken or any grilled white fish.
-French Herb Blend: Combining the best of France’s herbs from the Provence region (rosemary, thyme, basil, and lavender) with truffles and Fleur de Sel, recreate romantic cuisines with these timeless flavors reminiscent of the foods found on the coastline of France. Great on sole, poultry and in butter sauces. Put on your apron and channel your inner Julia Child.
-Everest Wet Salt: Using Himalayan Pink Salt, kafir leaves, lemongrass and wasabi, get a taste of Asia with this wet blend.  Great for lightly seasoning sushi fish, ahi tuna or even poultry, get ready to climb to new heights with your dining experience!

The first Beyond the Shaker SaltScribe e-newsletter is complete, and will be emailed to our mailing list Tuesday July 14, 2009. If you have not subscribed to our mailing list, you might miss out on unique recipes and exciting news about premium gourmet salts, and we certainly would not want that (we can hold on a second while you subscribe. Seriously, don’t worry, we will wait. Here is the page to subscribe. Now doesn’t that feel better!?).

You can get a sneak peek at our newsletter by following this link, or by clicking on the newsletter link to the left. As mentioned, each month we intend to bring you exciting news about the world of gourmet salt, plus recipe ideas and a featured Beyond the Shaker salt of the month. For July we chose (Windy-City Celery since this gourmet blend reminds us of summers in Chicago. Windy-City Celery is a great ‘all-purpose’ salt for rimming the glass of a blood-mary, or sprinkled on almost any protein prior to grilling. You will be amazed how often you reach for this salt, since it has become one of our favorites here at Beyond the Shaker because it is so darn versatile, especially on summer foods.

Working on the first newsletter made me realize how sophisticated spam filtering has become (of course you WANT to read our newsletter over some promised pictures of Jessica Simpson that some how seem to slide through the cracks into your inbox). Not only do I have to worry about my content from a reader’s point of view, but I also need to be cognizant of how a spam filter will interpret words like “discount” and “blood” (for organic blood orange, which is an ingredient in the Citrus Wet Salt).

The most difficult part of drafting this first newsletter however, was not finding the right words, but instead narrowing down those words to a length that people would actually read. In a few instances on this site, I have been known to write as if there are no bounds to a reader’s attention span. I mean, we are talking about some amazing salts here, and so of course you want to read pages and pages about them, right!? My inability to self-censor lead to the tabs that describe each salt. The default is now just a short summary, and if you want to read more you can click a tab and get the novelette version of each salt’s story.

Anyway, we hope you enjoy the significantly abridged version (I won’t pain you with a copy of the longer draft) of the Beyond the Shaker newsletter!

UPDATE: Looks like spam filters really do not like how we are describing our Truffle Wet Salt, and so we had to make some changes to the newsletter prior to emailing it out. We will leave the racy version as a link on the site, but the actual newsletter that gets sent by email will be much toned down to avoid offending any anti-spam software out there.

While eating at The Boathouse in Traverse City (the home of our Salt Chef), I was treated to one of the most delicate and delightful cuts of meat I have had in years. Of course the name “Waygu Kobe beef” is enough to send excited shivers down a dinner guest’s spine and make the wallet tremble in fear. Since I had not been to Traverse City nearly as much as I wanted this summer, I thought recession be damned, and boldly placed my order! I was certain Executive Chef Eric, wouldn’t dare mess around with something sculpted with culinary purpose out of nature by the master Japanese cattle farmers, and so I went “all-in” with the 5 ounce filet.

And indeed, I was rewarded when my plate arrived at our table. We already had a marvelous meal up to this point, but nothing makes such a grand entrance as a perfectly cooked piece of some of the finest steak known. Tender and bursting with flavor, I couldn’t wait to carve into this lovely cut of meat.

We were given knives that would normally have a difficult time carving through a properly seared scallop, let alone beef, but of course the playful point was made. This was no ordinary steak, and the typical cutlery would be unnecessary to enjoy the remarkably tender filet. Chef Eric lightly seasoned the meat with the queen of the unrefined world of salt, fleur de sel, as we wanted to play with different combinations from our Beyond Blends collection. Of course, only the finest salt would do for this premium steak experience, and so we brought Hickory Maple, French Herb, and Citrus Basil out of flavor arsenal (tucked in resealable sample packs, of course).

We knew each of these blends was amazingly scrumptious as a finishing salt on steak we had grilled at home, but the question was if the flavors and textures would match well on one of the world’s finest cuts of beef… and the answer? Well it can be summed up by the fact that over a week later I am still dreaming (and writing) about this dining experience. For the Waygu virgin, this is a very special breed of cattle that is known for its flavor and subtle texture. The meat is heavily marbled which adds to its juicy tenderness. The ‘Kobe’ part of the name is a reference to the area in Japan where the cattle was raised. Waygu ranchers are known for the special care used to raise these incredible animals.

Anyway, all three of the Beyond Blends we tried on our steaks finished them beautifully, highlighting the unmistakable flavor and texture of the Waygu beef. The favorite of the table was Hickory Maple, with Citrus Basil and French Herb not far behind. Regardless, you can’t go wrong with this cut of meat (if your bank account can handle the sizable blow), especially when in the hands of a master artist in the kitchen, like our Salt Chef. Cooked right, Waygu filets are some of the finest culinary experiences around (just don’t forget to pair your steak, or any grilled beef for that matter, with an equally premium gourmet salt)…

As everyone knows that reads the SaltScribe (and who the heck doesn’t read this blog?!?), I am a huge fan of the Beyond the Shaker Salt Chef, Eric Nittolo from The Boathouse restaurant in Traverse City, Michigan. Even coming from an amazing food city like Chicago, it is hard to beat the dishes crafted by Executive Chef Nittolo. The key of course is local/sustainable/organic ingredients, and of course a touch of panache added to each plate by Eric himself. This guy doesn’t mess around when he is in the kitchen. In fact, I got a rare view of the ‘magic’ over fourth of July weekend, when I dined at the Boathouse. We can save that for a future blog post…

While in northern Michigan, I found a great new magazine focused on Traverse City food and dining called the “45th” (no, not named after President Lyndon Johnson). In the 45th’s most recent edition, there is a feature focused on the Boathouse and Executive Chef Nittolo. The photos and recipes in this article are great, and they really highlight the amazing attention to detail found in every dish Chef Nittolo produces. This is part of the reason that he made the perfect Salt Chef for Beyond the Shaker. It was clear from the beginning he knew his stuff, and he wouldn’t stop until he had devised a superior product for us (even if it meant countless revisions).

Anyway, congrats to the Boathouse, Executive Chef Nittolo and the 45th. Lots of wonderful culinary things are happening in Traverse City, and we are darn pleased to be part of it!