Salt doesn’t get much attention. It’s one of those ingredients
that you don’t think much about
… until you run out. Then there’s no real substitute and you
simply have to run next door or to the store to get some.
Salt doesn’t get much attention. It’s one of those ingredients that you don’t think much about … until you run out. Then there’s no real substitute and you simply have to run next door or to the store to get some.
Though salt rarely inspires passion, it is important enough to boast its own lengthy book, “Salt: A World History,” written by Mark Kurlansky. In this New York Times bestseller, the author chronicles the many cultures and civilizations that have used salt as a food enhancer and bartering tool. I have read a few chapters of this book and am amazed at the breadth and importance of “the only rock humans eat.”
Some interesting salt bits: Salt is the world’s oldest food additive, in use long before history was recorded. About 4,700 years ago, the Chinese released a treatise on cures containing more than 40 uses for salt. Besides culinary uses, salt is used in some 14,000 commercial applications, including the manufacture of pulp and pepper, setting dyes in fabric, an ingredient in soap and a method of de-icing roads in cold climates.
At home, you can use salt as a cleaner in many ways. Have you run out of scouring powder? Use a salt paste made of salt and vinegar as a mild abrasive cleaner. That same paste will clean tarnished brass or copper. You can also pour a salt and water brine down the kitchen sink to prevent grease from collecting.
When entertaining, always have some salt on the table. When wine is spilled on a tablecloth, blot up as much as possible and immediately cover the spot with salt, which will absorb the remaining wine. Rinse the tablecloth with cold water later.
And, if you are a cooking student or aspire to be one, here’s some salt for thought: Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt is asking for recipes for its “Search for the Seasoned Chef” contest. Recipes must contain Diamond crystal Kosher Salt and can be in three categories: appetizers, entrees, and soups and stews. Entries must be postmarked on or before March 1, 2004. For complete entry information, go to www.diamondcrystalsalt.com or call (888) 385-SALT.
• The heat is on: Since it still feels like summer weather, tomatoes are bursting out of every garden. Four readers e-mailed me to see if I could share some tomato recipes. This recipe was discovered by my mom in Susan Branch’s summer cookbook. You put all the ingredients out in the sun to marinate. Then it can be used as a salad dressing over greens and goat cheese or mixed with chunks of French bread, olives, sliced red onion and cucumber. We put it on chopped Romaine with an extra sprinkling of pepper. It was fantastic.
Sunshine Tomato Dressing
8 vine-ripened garden tomatoes, roughly chopped
or
4 cups halved cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 shallots, chopped
1 cup good, fruity olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh basil, slivered
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
Lots of pepper; salt to taste
Put all ingredients in a glass bowl, cover tightly and set it in the sun for 4-5 hours. Keep in the fridge but serve at room temperature.
• San Francisco gem: If you’re in the city and looking for a casual, fresh place to eat, try Red Herring. Located on Steuart Street just blocks from the newly refurbished Ferry Building, Red Herring is billed as a “restaurant and bait bar” and features one of the coolest brick ovens I’ve seen. My husband had a fire-grilled steak topped with a tomato/basil/wine vinegar sauce that was out of this world. My favorite dish contains mussels steamed in white wine and herbs. The very simple recipe is easy to enjoy at home, too. At Red Herring, they put a cast iron lidded pot on the fire and let the mussels open up. You can do the recipe like that, or in the microwave or on top of the stove.
Red Herring Mussels
2 lbs. mussels
1 cup chopped tomatoes
4 T. butter
2 cups white wine
1 T. garlic, chopped
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped
Freshly ground pepper
Put all ingredients except mussels in a lidded skillet or lidded microwave-safe casserole. Cook over high heat for four minutes or until butter melts and sauce is bubbling. Add mussels, put lid on and cook over medium-high heat or on high in microwave for three minutes. Check mussels and remove any that have popped open; reserve in separate bowl. Recover skillet and continue checking each minute until all mussels have opened. Put mussels in a bowl. Pour sauce over top. Serve with French bread for dipping.
Serves four as a starter or two for dinner.
• Chicken again? Chicken’s popularity never wavers, probably due to its reasonable price and nutritional benefits. If you’re tired of cooking with chicken breasts, spice up your repertoire with this stew-like dish that uses chicken legs. If you want smaller pieces of chicken, like my family does, cut the leg pieces in two using some sharp poultry shears. This recipe is from LeNotre Cooking School. Serve with rice and a green salad.
4 chicken leg quarters
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 bell peppers, thinly sliced (use one red, one yellow, one green)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup country ham, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In small bowl, stir together salt, pepper and oregano. Place chicken on a flat surface and rub spice mixture thoroughly into legs.
In large skillet, warm olive oil over high heat. Add chicken legs and cook, turning, until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes per side.
Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
Reduce skillet heat to medium-low; add onion and garlic and cook until very soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in peppers; increase heat to medium-high and cook until wilted, about 8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, ham, roasted pepper, white wine and chicken broth. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring to mix all ingredients.
Place chicken in a 9×13-inch glass or metal pan. Pour contents of skillet over chicken and place in oven. Bake 40 minutes.
Tip of the Week:
Add flavor to vegetable soups by substituting a vegetable juice like V-8 for a third to half of the water in the recipe.
Notes from Jenny’s Kitchen
• Persimmons are showing up in supermarkets. Choose plump persimmons with brilliant red-orange skin. You can store persimmons in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three days. If they’re not quite ripe, put them in a paper bag with an apple at room temperature. Check often because they get mushy if over ripened.
• If you like crisp crust on your homemade pizza, try this trick: put a thin layer of cheese under the sauce and toppings; top with more cheese. The bottom cheese layer provides a buffer between the crust and moist toppings.
• End notes: “This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Happy cooking!
