I know you have been dying to find out what my recipe is for the Beyond the Shaker Challenge, so without further ado, here it is!

Prosciutto Wrapped Scallops with a Citrus Glaze

Ingredients Needed:
12 Large DRY Scallops
Non-stick Spray
6 Pieces of Thinly Sliced Prosciutto
1/2 tsp Beyond the Shaker Citrus Wet Salt
6 tbsp Honey
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon
Pepper

Cooking Utensils Needed:
Raised-edge Cookie Sheet
Toothpicks
Sharp Knife
Small Bowl
Fork
Paper Towels

Steps:
0. Pre-heat oven to 350F degrees.
1. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
2. Lay down a couple pieces of paper towel and lay out scallops.
3. Using another piece of paper towel pat each scallop to remove any excess moisture (the drier the scallop the better!)
4. Grind pepper onto each scallop, turn them over and repeat.
5. Cut the strips of prosciutto in half the longways using sharp knife.
6. Lay piece of prosciutto on a piece of paper towel and set one scallop on the end closest to you.
7. Roll the scallop and prosciutto away from you until the prosciutto is wrapped around the round edge of the scallop entirely. Then put a toothpick through it to hold in place. Put completed scallop onto cookie sheet and repeat for remaining scallops.
8. Once complete, place cookie sheet into oven on middle rack where they will cook for a total of 15 minutes.

While they are cooking, prepare the glaze in the following manner:
1. In a small bowl add the honey, lemon juice and Citrus Wet Salt.
2. Using a fork or small whisk, rapidly mix together until all combines into a smooth liquid (taste to see if you have the correct amount of sweet/salty/sour taste).

When there is 5 minutes left of the scallops, open the oven and bast the top of each scallop with the glaze.

After 15 minutes in the oven, remove and serve immediately!

Tasting Notes:
I wanted to experiment with turning the heat to broil for the last few minutes in order to ensure a nice brown honey glaze on the tops of each scallop, but ran out of time in the end and was fearful of over-cooking them. If you are able to do this, please let me know how it turns out!

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We are now a week into the challenge, with a week left before its time to present our dishes for judging. I wanted to take this opportunity to describe a few of my own trials and tribulations as I prepare the (what I hope to be) award winning dish!

As a reminder, my random salt assignment was Citrus Wet Salt, which I personally feel is one of the more challenging salts to use without a little direction or inspiration (and I guess that is why we have so many recipe ideas on this site!). That being said, I am forging ahead and not letting it dissuade me! I have settled on trying to pair this salt with scallops, which I am finding are also a bit of a challenge – bear in mind, I am no master chef – so things could certainly get interesting once the judging begins!

So far, I have gone through 18 scallops with less-than-desired outcomes. I have decided to use the Citrus Wet Salt in a citrus and honey glaze that I will coat the scallops with shortly before they are finished to give them a nice browning. However, the glaze has not been the issue and instead I cannot seem to get them to cook correctly!

I have attempted to cook them a variety of ways which include: pan-searing, baking, broiling, and grilling. I have also done lots of research and followed cooking instructions I have found in various places, but no matter what I do I cannot seem to cook them correctly. Each of the 18 so far has either been completely raw on the inside, or so overdone that they turn into small rubber balls that are impossible to chew.

So with a week to go, it looks like it’s back to the drawing board for me. Check back next week to hopefully hear some better news!

Six yummy salts all dressed up and ready to be put to work

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.

You would pair the perfect wine with every course, select the appropriate fork for every serving, so why not choose the ideal salt to enhance every dish?

The Easter Sunday meal was the time to test this out. We started with the classic decorated hard boiled Easter egg and a dash of Windy City Celery salt. The next course was a fresh pea and potato soup taken to a new level after mixing in a dab of Truffle Wet salt. The aroma was heavenly. Ham slices came to life after a sprinkling of some Hickory Maple salt on top. Along side was a serving of snap peas and asparagus with vinaigrette brightened up with a pinch of the French Herb salt – a taste of Provence. And dessert? A little Citrus Wet salt mixed in with the strawberries over a luscious slice of cheese cake did the trick. Only the solid chocolate bunny escaped the salt tastings.

Have fun experimenting with your own flights and trying your own combinations!