Peterson has a concise commentary on various salts, which includes a brief discussion of the four essential types of salt that should be in the home chef’s arsenal. These salts are comprised of inexpensive kosher salt, fine flake or grain salt (for when coarse salt is too crunchy, we would recommend Murray River), sea salt (like Sel Gris, which is full of ocean flavors), and Fleur de Sel for delicate foods.

I found the section of the book on broths, soups and sauces to be very informative. The shellfish and fish chapter is also quite educational (including several ways to prepare scallops – a personal favorite). Want detailed directions on how to carve a chicken or make a prime rib roast? Check out the poultry and meat section. Peterson’s writing style is easy to follow, and his detailed techniques show expansive depth of knowledge.

If you can’t tell, I would definitely recommend this guide for any home chef, and at $11.53 on Amazon, honestly it is an unbelievable deal.

Related posts:

1. Book Review – The Elements of Cooking
2. Great Review for Beyond the Shaker Gourmet Salts
3. Great Blog Review of Beyond the Shaker Salts

Chicken Tacos with Hot Habanero Blend

My first Beyond the Shaker recipe had to include the Hot Habanero Blend.  The bottle beckoned to me with its warm colors and smell.  After consulting BeyondtheShaker.com, I picked Chicken Tacos.  The directions were simple and I’ve never met a taco I didn’t like.

While sautéing the peppers an inviting smell filled the kitchen.  After cooking the chicken, the moment I’d been waiting for arrived.  Adding the Habanero Blend!  It hit the pan and the meal was transformed.

Before I could even get the tacos on the plate I had to dig in.  Although I was nervous I couldn’t take the heat, this blend left my lips smoldering and waiting for the next bite.

The meal served on my wedding china.  If this isn’t a special occasion, I don’t know what is.

Related posts:

1. Steve’s Chicken and Potatoes – Beer Can Grilling
2. Nick’s Chili
3. Discover Global Flavors Without Leaving Your Kitchen

Hickory Maple Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of Beyond the Shaker Hickory Maple salt
• 6 Idaho potatoes
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 8 green onions, sliced, divided
• Bacon crumbles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.

3. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes.

4. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy.

5. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins.

6. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.

7. Bake for another 15 minutes.

This is a dish guaranteed to get you invited back but sadly, you won’t have any leftovers to take home.  To see Amy’s creation from the Beyond the Shaker Challenge check out our Facebook page.

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1. Steve’s Chicken and Potatoes – Beer Can Grilling
2. Anybody Seen What They Charge For Arugula?!
3. Black Bean Soup & Cebollitas

Brussels Sprouts with Windy City Celery Salt

“I didn’t know you liked Brussels sprouts,” my Mom said as she looked over the dinner ingredients.  She was right to question me, I hate Brussels sprouts.

Actually, I used to hate Brussels sprouts.  Now that I’m a full blown adult I actually like them.  In fact, I like them so much when I looked at this recipe I thought, “Mmmmm, Brussels sprouts!”   When did this happen!?

The inspiring recipe is from Logan’s entry in the Beyond the Shaker Challenge.  Not only does it look good, it tastes fantastic.  You can find all the pictures from the Challenge on our Facebook Page.

My parents joined us for this meal and it was finished in one sitting.  Sprouts and all.  Enjoy it with adults or try to pass one over on your favorite child.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin
with
Bacon Sauteed Brussels Sprouts & Savory Apple Cider Honey

The Finished Product - Logan's Was Prettier

Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Pork Tenderloin
1/8C Beyond the Shaker Windy City Salt
1/8C Kosher Salt
1/4C Brown Sugar
1QT water

Dissolve salts and sugar in 1C boiling water. Remove from heat and pour into large Ziploc bag. Add remaining water (this water should be very cold). Add the pork tenderloin to the Ziploc bag. Brine in fridge for at least 60 minutes. Remove tenderloin from brine and dry it. Sear all sides on a med high grill. Roast 30 minutes for each pound of pork at 350 degrees . Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Savory Apple Cider Honey
1QT Apple Cider
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 small Shallot, cut into small pieces
2 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into very small pieces

Bring Apple Cider to boil, reduce heat and simmer until cider is reduced to 2 cups (if you continuously watch and stir, you may leave the heat higher — this is recommended as it will otherwise take a LONG time). Remove bay leaf and shallot. Continue to reduce to about a cup of liquid. At this point, it should be fairly thick, like maple syrup. Pour into small bowl and add the butter one piece at a time, whisking until each piece of butter is gone.

Bacon Sauteed Brussels Sprouts
12-24 Brussels Sprouts, halved
3-6 Bacon slices
Approx. 1 Tablespoon Beyond the Shaker Windy City Salt
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook bacon in large nonstick frying pan. Remove bacon and cut into small pieces. Leave half of the bacon fat in the pan and save the other half. Add half of the Brussels sprouts with 1/2 tablespoon of the celery salt and saute until tender and slightly browned. Remove from pan and cook the other half of them (with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon celery salt) in the remaining bacon fat. Add all Brussels sprouts to a large bowl and mix in the bacon pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve: Place pork tenderloin slices atop the Brussels sprouts on a platter. Drizzle pork with the cider honey.  Try to avoid licking the cider honey spoon clean before serving.

Related posts:

1. Farmers’ Market Ingredient of the Week: Brussels Sprouts
2. My Salt Challenge Recipe
3. Steve’s Chicken and Potatoes – Beer Can Grilling

2 3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
2 egg whites (whipped a little with a spoon)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lime
1 tsp minced lemongrass
approximately 2 Tbsp Everest Wet Salt

Mix coconut, sugar and flour in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites, almond and vanilla extracts, lime zest and minced lemongrass until well blended.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. I like mine to have a nice round shape with some irregularities in the top to let the coconut get toasted a little unevenly.

I was pretty exact when adding my salt to the tops of my cookies because of the contest. Because I am certifiably insane, I actually placed grains of salt on my cookies to be sure I had even distribution. Generally sprinkling a pinch of salt over each cookie would give you pretty good results.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes until edges and a little of the tops of the cookie are golden brown. Move to wire racks and let cool.

Makes about 18 cookies using a tablespoon to scoop mixture up and place on cookie sheet

Related posts:

1. Not Your Grandma’s Macaroons
2. My Salt Challenge Recipe
3. Recipe: Citrus Basil Tilapia

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!

————————————

Related posts:

1. Update: Beyond the Shaker Challenge
2. Recipe for Everest Wet Coconut Macaroons
3. Beyond the Shaker Salt Challenge Recap

So warm up with this delightful carrot soup, which we promise is incredibly filling and robust. One bowl will allow you to battle even the worst of the winter weather while it warms you from the inside out. Some folks out there are probably rolling their eyes about the prospect of carrot soup. At first it does sound a little boring, like a hospital meal, but what if I told you that THIS particular recipe has almost a bottle of wine in it? Hmmm…I certainly am not aware of any ER that is serving such culinary fare! And what if I went on to tell you that this recipe for carrot soup also contains the kick of fresh grated ginger root? Ah, yes, this really is not your typical carrot soup recipe, so perhaps you should give it a whirl and let your taste buds decide for themselves!

The other promise we can make you is that this recipe is ridiculously easy. The flavors do the work for you. No, they don’t cut up the onions or peel the carrots, but if you can accomplish the simple task of getting stuff in a pot, you will be a ‘seasoned’ (HA, never gets old) professional at whipping up this wonderful soup for you and your family/friends. AND the best part, is that it is not cream based, so there is an argument that it probably is not entirely bad for you (the 6 tablespoons of butter might indicate differently, but we will leave that determination to the experts).

Here are the ingredients:

6 tablespoons of butter, unsalted (you will be the master of what salts go into your food!)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped ginger root (you can pick this up at most grocery stores now..just use a potato peeler to remove the brown outer skin)
3 cloves of chopped garlic
5 cups of chicken or veggie stock, unsalted (I think you know why)
2 cups of dry white wine (just grab any old dry white wine, the grape varietal is not important)
1 lb of carrots, peeled and chopped into little coin shapes
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of either Beyond the Shaker Hot Habanero Blend (for those folks that want even more kick) or Citrus Basil Blend (for those folks that like a stronger citrus flavor)
Fresh chives (optional, but yummy)
2 teaspoons of a Pure Foundation Collection salt with a flakey texture, like Sel Gris, Fleur de Sel or Murray River.

1. Prepare all your ingredients ahead of time. Seriously. Organization like this will help make your cooking experience much more delightful and less rushed. Chop your onions, garlic and ginger root and toss them in a bowl together. Separately peel and cut your carrots. Have your wine bottle open (a small swig at this point is acceptable).

2. Get a large stock pot and put it on a medium heat. Add the butter and allow it to melt then add the olive oil. Drop in your onion, garlic and ginger root. Stir this around until the onions just start to become clear. Turn down the heat if anything starts to brown in the pot (browning is bad at this point).

3. Once your onions just begin to become clear add your Beyond Blend salt (either Hot Habanero Blend or Citrus Basil, but feel free to experiment too) and the carrots. Keep mixing (folding the carrots into the yummy flavors already built up in the pot) until the onions are completely clear. Add in the wine. Scrap the bottom of the pot with your mixing spoon or spatula to release all the crazy good flavors that have caramelized there. The wine will help you a lot here. Now keep mixing periodically until the whole mixture starts to boil.

4. Now add in the chicken or veggie stock and wait until the mixture boils again, and then turn it down to a simmer (like a mini boil, small little bubble escaping across the entire surface).

5. The mixture should simmer until you can pull a carrot out and it is soft all the way through (put a fork in it to test). Turn off the heat completely. Add the lemon juice.

6. If you are using a blender with a glass pitcher, be careful to allow the mixture to cool a bit before blending. The heat can easily crack the blender, and that would mean ‘no soup for you!’ Pour the mixture into a blender. Blend the heck out of it until it is a consistent and uniform color.

7. Add the blended mixture back to the pot to warm it up again, if necessary. To serve, add to bowls and top with the rough chopped chives and the flakey salt – season to taste with the salt. Most likely the soup will need some salt at this point since we were careful to only include ingredients that did not have salt in them in our soup mixture.

That is it! Seriously, I broke out each step to guide you through the process, but do not let that fool you into thinking this recipe is complex. It is very simple and the robust flavors will make you think differently about carrot soup. In all, it took about 45 minutes to make with the bulk of the time required to allow the carrots to become tender.

For the more adventure driven cooks, try these variations:

1. Add two medium sized Serrano peppers, chopped, to the mix at the same time as wine. The trick to the heat is the seeds of the pepper. Add them all if you want some SERIOUS heat or add just a bit for some nice spicy warmth.

2. Parsnip. Sounds like a funny name, but tastes great with carrot. Take three large parsnips, peel them with a potato peel. Coat with olive oil and put on a roasting pan covered with aluminum foil in a 400 oven for about 20 minutes. The parsnips are ready when they have a little brown to them and are soft. Now throw this into the mix at the same time as the carrots. Wow, is that good and worth the extra effort. Seriously do not rob yourself of the yum.

3. Add a dollop of plain yogurt or butter to the top of the soup just prior to serving.

Related posts:

1. Black Bean Soup & Cebollitas
2. Alderwood Smoke – the Salt Makes the Soup
3. Nick’s Chili

Windy City Celery Looking Yummy with Tomato Juice

I felt duped.  There is no need to have that much refined sodium in anything, let alone a delicious tomato juice.  So when I got home, I decided to search for my own recipe for spicy tomato juice—on that didn’t contain an obscene amount of refined sodium but rather utilized the potency of my natural, unrefined salt that contains less sodium than the refined version undoubtedly used in that can of juice.

I found this recipe on Martha Stewart’s website—she must have had the same experience I did and was so fed up that she made this marvelous recipe that requires only ¼ teaspoon of salt for a recipe that two people can enjoy.

The recipe calls for a food processor and juicer.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender.  If you don’t have a juicer, borrow one from your neighbor.  They’ll understand.  If they don’t, skip the celery and just add ½ cup of water.  And consider making new neighbor friends.

3 stalks of celery, leaves attached
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon celery seed (even if you use Windy City Celery, still add the celery seed. No one wins when you skimp on flavor.)
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon of your favorite Beyond the Shaker salt (Windy City Celery, Hot Habanero, Citrus Basil, or Chef’s Blend are all awesome in this recipe)
2 red chile peppers, for garnish (optional)

Juice the heck out of the celery stalks so you can get about 1/2 cup of juice (yep, you can juice celery. Seemed crazy to us too).  Pour into the bowl of your processor or into your blender.  Toss the chopped tomatoes, jalapeno, lemon juice, celery seed, black pepper, and of course, your favorite Beyond the Shaker salt.   I used the Windy City Celery Salt, but you could really use any Beyond the Shaker salts mentioned in this recipe.  Of course, Hot Habanero Blend really can add a ton of spicy kick!

Process/blend until fairly smooth, but keep some of that thick texture that makes tomato juice so satisfying.  Garnish with chile peppers, if you’d like, or perhaps olives, pickles, another stalk of celery—go crazy!  It’s natural, it’s delicious, and it’s yours.

Related posts:

1. Some Interesting Insights on Salt and Sodium Intake
2. Driving By Refined Salt Headquarters (Table Salt v. Unrefined Salt)
3. Windy City Celery Salt – Pickles and Bloodys

Lovely French Herb Pork Chops

The Farmers’ Market isn’t just for vegetables.  Ideally, your local farmers’ market supports farmers raising livestock in an organic and sustainable manner. One of the largest carbon emitters, and therefore contributors to global warming, is commercial livestock farming.  In addition, if you research the commercial farming industry, you’ll discover deplorable conditions, animal cruelty and practices that lead to the kind of food borne illnesses and contamination that have plagued this country in recent years.  I try to eat consciously and responsibly, and I choose to be a carnivore, I feel I need to do so in a conscientious manner. Commercial meat products come to store shelves laden with chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and little flavor. Meat from a local farm is an entirely different animal.

Local farmers (hopefully) feed their pigs and cattle a natural diet that promotes health and well-being, eliminating the need for the antibiotics and hormones that are necessitated by a chemical-laden diet that fails to reflect the animals’ nutritional needs.  Look for free-range, hormone and antibiotic free.  Look for grass fed and finished cattle.  Often local farms will not be organic because they cannot afford the certification process from the USDA, but if you take the time to engage your local farmers, they will be more than happy to describe their process.  Taking care in raising animals makes an enormous difference not only in their health, but in our health.  And it makes a huge difference in flavor.  A great, free range, grass fed cow produces steak that tastes like…steak.  The meat has a full, beefy flavor to it that really bring to light the injustice done to commercially raised beef.  It cheats the animal, it cheats us and it cheats our palate.  This may sound silly, but if you’ve tasted properly raised meat, you know what I’m talking about.

Recently, I met a lovely woman at the Farmers’ Market who runs a local farm with her husband.  She offered a beautiful selection of properly raised pork and beef.  We didn’t want to buy too many items on our first visit, so we picked up a couple porks chops and some steaks (more on those another time).  If you’ve read any of my past Farmers’ Market posts, you know I like to prepare dishes simply and let the fantastic natural flavor of the ingredients shine through.

Pork chops on the grill are the ideal way to highlight their flavor without too much fussiness.  We rubbed a small amount of French Herb Blend into the pork chops before putting them on the grill.   Make sure the grill is properly heated before putting the pork chops on the grill.  If you are careful, and turn them only once, the result will be a much moister pork chop.  A word of caution here: free range, naturally raised beef and pork tends to be leaner than commercially raised meat.  Think about it: this animals get exercise so they are obviously fitter and therefore have less fat than their factory farmed counterparts.  This means that you have to be very careful not to overcook the meat or it will be tough.  A nice piece of pork can be served less than well done.  It will be moist and delicious.

After cooking, we finished with a little more French Herb Blend.  The pork chops were so juicy, and you could taste the freshness, the diversity in the diet and the care with which the animal was raised.  It tasted the way you imagine pork should taste, and so rarely does. This dish is awesome with zucchini or brussels sprouts.

If your Farmers’ Market does not have meat purveyors, investigate your local farms or check out www.localharvest.org to find a farmer near you.

Related posts:

1. Farmers’ Market Ingredient of the Week: Zucchini
2. Farmers’ Market Ingredient of the Week: Brussels Sprouts
3. Market Square of West Bloomfield Now Sells Our Salts!

Here is my favorite, 15 minute gourmet, weeknight meal: Citrus Basil Tilapia with Sauteed Broccoli (or other frozen green vegetable).  Serves 2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with tin foil.  Defrost two frozen tilapia fillets.  On one small plate, pour 1/3 to 1/2 cup of milk (I prefer local or organic dairy products-yummy).  On another small plate, combine bread crumbs with Citrus Basil salt.  I use a ratio of about 3 parts breadcrumbs to one part salt, but you should combine to taste.   Dip the tilapia fillet in the milk, followed by the Citrus Basil breadcrumb mixture, and lay on the tin foil lined baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining tilapia fillet.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

While the fish is baking, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan.  When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add frozen broccoli or green vegetable of your choice.  Cook until heated through, but not soggy.  This should take no longer than the fish.  I like to season with Garlic-Shallot, but French Herb, Herb Garden and Chef’s Blend are all great options.

Voila, dinner is served.  Sometimes I add rice or a green salad, but often fish and veggies is plenty for a healthy, quick meal.

Related posts:

1. The “Recipe” as a Genre
2. Recipe for Everest Wet Coconut Macaroons
3. My Salt Challenge Recipe