Black bean soup is so satisfying and simple to make. Dress it up with some fresh garnishes and it’s a meal. I cook big batches of dried beans and freeze them so they’re ready for a quick dinner- they taste much better than the canned version. For this soup you just combine black beans and broth with sautéed onion, garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes. Use an immersion blender to puree everything to your preferred thickness.

Then the fun part! Top the soup with any and all of the following: a fried egg, sliced avacado, sliced radishes, green onions, cilantro, cheddar cheese or queso fresco, sour cream, salsa, hot sauce, tortilla chips.. and a sprinkle of Hot Habanero Blend. This blend combines several types of chili peppers with Hawaiian Black Lava and Red Alaea salts, finished with organic carrot and cilantro. The salt Blend really enhances all the spicy, savory flavors of the soup and looks lovely sprinkled on top.

My favorite Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood is called Taco Veloz on Chicago Avenue. The best thing on the menu is grilled green onions- cebollitas. They finish them with soy sauce at Taco Veloz but I wanted to make them at home using salt instead. Cebollitas are so incredibly easy to make, look beautiful and are just delicious. You can do them on the grill, but that’s not happening in January in Chicago so just crank up the broiler. Brush with olive oil and place on a foiled baking sheet, then broil for about 10 minutes or until the onions are soft and lightly charred. I sprinkled the cebollitas with Bolivian Rose salt, which is good on pretty much everything. The pink crystals looked so pretty on the green onions and added great flavor and crunch. Bolivian Rose is harvested by hand from mines in the Andes Mountains.

Check out this Internet site we found that is focused on pink salt! It is pinksalt.org .

We love ourselves Himalayan Pink salt, Bolivian Rose and Murray River.

Beyond the Shaker actually sells an awesome three jar set of pink salts that includes all of the above! Anyway, we are super happy that gourmet salts and pink salt in particular is becoming so popular!

Recently, I was asked how to host a salt tasting. In my opinion there are two different ways to stage such tasting- (1) Simply taste the salts, one after another, in their natural form, or (2) stage a multi-course meal with different salts utilized in each dish. This post covers the first type of tasting, and I will discuss the second type at a later date.

I hosted a salt tasting a few weeks ago, and I learned a few important lessons. First, you need a foil to balance out all the saltiness. Second, you can’t taste too many at one time or it burns your tongue (even our premium unrefined salts can be TOO much salt if eaten in excess in a single session).

Here are my tips for a delicious, successful salt tasting.

I prefer a fairly neutral palate for tasting the salt, such as white bread, like sourdough or challah. I offered both olive oil and unsalted butter. This is a great opportunity to try a local or artisanal butter.

Offer as many salt options as you desire, but suggest that guests taste no more than two or three at a time. Recommend a generous break in between every few salts.

To balance the salt, I recommend a smooth beverage. If you are interested in wine, try something that is not particularly dry, acidic or oaky. I think Riesling, particularly from Black Star Farms, is an excellent compliment to salt tasting. For a non-alcoholic beverage, try sparkling water. In addition, snacks like fresh fruit and vegetables (rather than cheese and crackers) will cleanse and refresh the palate for continued tasting.

The Pure Foundation Salts are excellent for tasting in this manner. The subtle differences in salinity and minerality can be appreciated while tasting with bread and butter. Offering a tasting allows you and your guests to study the diverse crystal structures and colors. I love trying salts with similar characteristics, such as color, and really studying their differences. Take, for example, Himalayan Pink and Bolivian Rose. Each is a pink, mountain salt. But they are so different. Compare the pink color and clarity. Let the crystals dissolve in your mouth and note the difference in minerality. Chew a few crystals and feel the difference between them on your teeth and your tongue.

Compare Hawaiian Black Lava and Cyprus Black Lava. Each is a black lava salt, but the difference in shape and texture make them so different and delicious in their own way.

One of my favorite comparisons is the smoked salts. Try to tease out the differences between Alderwood Smoke and Fumee de Sel. See if you can taste the subtle sweetness in Fumee de Sel, compared to the more robust Alderwood Smoke. Note how the size of the crystals affects the flavor.

Enjoy your tasting, share your comments and stay tuned for the next salt tasting installment.

Mmm, brussels sprouts (not brussel sprouts, as thought by many). This poor vegetable is loathed by millions of children who are forced to choke it down before being rewarded with dessert. But this disrespected member of the cabbage family has recently been updated to celebrity status. Instead of an overly boiled staple served with equally overcooked pot roast, brussels sprouts are experiencing a renaissance.  Take, for example, Iron Chef Michael Symon and his new Detroit restaurant, Roast.  I could go on and on about the virtues of this fantastic, meat-centered restaurant, but this post is about the vegetables.  One of the non-meat stars on Chef Symon’s menu is the fried brussels sprouts side dish.  Deliciously crispy and slightly sweet, these crispy treats are well salted, almost like mini-cabbage fries. 

I experienced my rebirth with brussels sprouts last Thanksgiving.  The grocery store featured brussels sprouts on the stalk, and I couldn’t resist this cool looking veggies.  After exhaustive research, I settled on a recipe that combined sauteed bacon, apple cider vinegar and shredded brussels sprouts.  The salty bacon, combined with the sweet, cabbagey brussels sprouts and the tart and tangy cider vinegar…this will be a new, permanent fixture on the Thanksgiving table.  But after Thanksgiving, I forgot about brussels sprouts.  Until two weeks ago.

While strolling through the Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning, there they were.  These perfect, tiny, green orbs.  They were much smaller than the fall brussels sprouts, but they looked equally delicious.  And a wonderful sauteed brussels sprout dish sounded like a great compliment to pork or chicken off the grill.  I took my precious little globes of goodness home with me to experiment.

First up, sauteed.  I couldn’t resist the lure of bacon.  The bacon/brussels sprouts combination is so enticing.  Chop two to three slices of bacon and cook until the fat has melted and the resulting bacon bits are crispy.  Remove the bacon bits with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat behind.  Start by chopping off the ends, then slicing the brussels sprouts in half from top to bottom.   Lay the brussels sprouts cut side down in the pan with the bacon fat, adding olive oil if there is not enough bacon fat left for all the sprouts, and cook for three to five minutes, until the cut sides are brown and beginning to carmelize.   At this point, I season generously with one of the milder salts.  For me, Murray River is the go to.  I love the light, flaky, texture and perfect salt flavor.  It melts quickly into a dish and isn’t overpowering. Add about a cup of water to the pan, cover and cook until the brussels sprouts are tender to the tooth, but not mushy.  At this point, I uncover the pan to let the rest of the water boil away, add the bacon bits back in and quickly splash of about a tablespoon of apple cider in the pan, tossing the sprouts to coat.  Finish with more Murray River or Garlic Shallot for a little extra crunch (Bolivian Rose provides a delicious crunch, too!)  This is such a tasty side dish, my mouth is watering.

The following week, I wanted to try something different.  Both Ina Garten and Mark Bittman’s How to Eat Everything have roasted brussels sprouts recipe.  Roasting is very simple and requires less attention than sauteing.  This time, I started with olive oil in an oven proof pan, and again laid my brussels sprouts cut side down in the pan for three to five minutes.  Once they started to carmelize, I added about five cloves of garlic and put the pan in the oven at 400 degrees for fifteen minutes.  Your cooking time will vary tremendously based on the size of the brussels sprouts, but the goal is dark and crispy on the outside, tender and delicious on the inside.  Salt generously with a Beyond the Shaker salt that compliments the crunch; I like Himalayan Pink or peppery Chef’s Blend.  For a salty, smoky treat, Alderwood Smoke is a fantastic choice or you can spice them up with Hot Habanero.  You can dress this dish up a little with a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar, but they are truly perfect just simple and salty.

  

  Recently, I enjoyed a fantastic lunch at David Burke’s Primehouse in Chicago. This “modern” steakhouse celebrates all the classics with a contemporary interpretation. Unlike a typical, clubby steakhouse with its dark leather and paneled walls (which certainly has its own special place in my heart), David Burke’s Primehouse greets the guest with a cool, quiet atmosphere, illuminated by large windows and bright, modern artwork.  As part of David Burke’s contemporary cuisine, he utilizes fresh, innovative ingredients. Lots of chefs do that; it’s the hip part of today’s food culture. But what did David Burke do that stuck out in my mind, that warranted a blog post? He used gourmet salt, of course.

    His respect for our favorite ingredient was immediately apparent when the warm, light, airy popovers were presented to the table. A plate of delicious, softened butter studded with sparkly gems of Himalayan Salt invited the diner to go ahead, butter that popover. Not only was the popover mouthwatering and delectable, but the butter was perfectly salted with the Himalayan Salt. More importantly, this little addition, this tiny sprinkling of Himalayan Salt spoke to me. It said, this chef respects his ingredients. He doesn’t just respect the steak, but the popovers and the butter. If you’ve read the SaltScribe or the SaltGuide, you understand that many chefs and home cooks strive to use premium ingredients only to season them with chemical-laden, industrial manufactured salts. This little sprinkle of color and flavor on the butter signaled respect not only for the diner, but for the diner’s palate and the ingredients themselves. Once the appetizer arrived, I knew this restaurant was serious in its respect for salt. The silky Kobe beef sashimi lay draped over a block of Himalayan Pink Salt. The Himalayan Pink block infused the sashimi with the perfect amount of seasoning to highlight the amazing flavor. Later, I learned that not only does David Burke serve his sashimi on a Himalayan Salt block, but his steaks are aged in a Himalayan Pink Salt tiled room. How cool is that?

    The next morning, I recalled each tasty, salty bite of my delicious meal while sipping coffee with the Today Show quietly playing the background. Then I heard the magical word that always puts me on high alert…Salt! Standing behind a gorgeous plate of gourmet salt on the Today Show was Chef Govind Armstrong! (Check out his demonstration here) He demonstrated a lovely salt-crusted sea bass (a perfect application for Beyond the Shaker Bolivian Rose, Red Alaea or Hawaiian Black Lava!) and chatted with Ann Curry about the importance of good salt. Ann has recently tasted and loved Truffle Salt…perhaps we should send her some of ours! As the show broke for a commercial broke, I felt extremely satisfied. We at Beyond the Shaker know in our hearts and our mouths the importance of salt. To see chefs and restaurants and mainstream morning television embrace this culinary cornerstone made me smile. And made me hungry…