Sea Salt - Recipes of Disaster and Crunchy Salads

I hear you grinding your teeth at the introduction, well read on and I'm sure to convince you if not already convinced by the amount of salt in your cupboard. Salt's in the dessert are a commodity and in other countries it acts as an acceptable currency for trading. Years ago before fridge freezers again crunchy salt was a valued practical way associated with food. Areas that produce specialised sea salt include the Cayman Islands, Greece, France, Ireland, Colombia, Sicily, Apulia in Italy, and Hawaii and Cape Cod. Externally sea salt is known for it's therapeutic properties so imagine what it can do for the taste buds. Here a few recipes that do it for me, and a list of my salts of choice.

Five Spice Chicken with Plum Wine Sauce and Hawaii Kai White Sea Salt
Four servings:
Ingredients.
1 pound chicken breasts, boneless*
2 tsp. Chinese 5 Spice Powder
1 tsp. Hawaii Kai White Sea Salt
2 tbsp. peanut oil (vegetable oil may be substituted)
.25 cup (one-quarter) Mirin, sweet cooking wine or sake
1 cup Chicken broth
.25 cup (one-quarter) Golden Plum Sauce
* 4 center cut pork chops, about 1 inch thick can be substituted.

Method
Sprinkle both sides of chicken breast halves with 1 tsp. of the five spice and 1 tsp. Hawaii Kai White Sea Salt
Heat oil in wok or large skillet over medium-high heat
Add chicken and cook 1 to 2 minutes on each side until golden brown
Reduce heat to medium-low. Remove pan from heat and remove chicken to plate
Let pan cool about 1 minute, then add wine, stirring to loosen any brown bits
Stir in chicken broth, plum sauce and the remaining 1 tsp. five spice
Return chicken to pan and return pan to medium-low heat
Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes, turning once
Remove chicken to plates
Let sauce cook an additional 30 or so seconds to thicken slightly
Pour sauce over chicken.

Chicken in red palm oil.
Serves two - three
Ingredients
1 Chicken, cut up for frying
½ tsp. of ground coriander
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp. dried orange peel
1 tsp dried minced garlic
¼ cup Red palm oil

In a large cast iron or frying skillet, melt the red palm oil. Heat the red palm oil over high heat until you notice the traditional "burn off" that is a result of not filtering the oil. You will notice a small amount of smoke followed by the oil darkening several shades. Turn the heat to medium. In a small bowl, mix the salt and spices. Dust the Chicken with the spice mixture. Place the Chicken in the skillet and cover with a lid. Cook each side of the Chicken until well browned and thoroughly cooked. Drain and serve with coconut jasmine rice and Red palm oil veggies.

Minty Potatoes.
Serves one
Ingredients
1 lb baby new potatoes, yellow-skinned
1 bunch fresh mint
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Cut the potatoes in halves. Wrap the mint up in a bit of cheesecloth and tie with a fabric string. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes and mint sack. Boil for approximately 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Drain and remove the mint sack. Toss the potatoes in the olive oil, salt and pepper, and serve. You can also just add the mint to the boiling water instead of putting it in the cheesecloth bag, but you'll want to pick it out of the cooked potatoes before serving.

Some other recipes are cooking with sea salt however this is not to say sea salt is any less healthy than using table chloride.

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Roasted Ratatouille with Basil Aioli
Serves two
Ingredients
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black
pepper to taste
6 plum tomatoes, quartered length wise
Basil Aioli
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1 tsp. minced garlic or to taste
Pinch salt
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup soy mayonnaise
Several sprigs fresh rosemary
1 medium Eggplant, cut into 1-inch thick rounds
1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch wide strips
1 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch wide strips
8 small red-skin potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1 Bermuda onion, cut into 3/4-inch-thick rings
8 large cloves garlic, peeled and halved

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In large roasting pan, combine Eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, potatoes, Onion rings and garlic. Scatter rosemary sprigs over top. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast vegetables, stirring every 5 minutes, until almost tender, 25 minutes. Add tomatoes. Continue roasting, stirring once or twice, until all vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes more. Meanwhile, make aioli: In food processor, combine basil and garlic and process until finely chopped. Add lemon juice. Gradually add Mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is well blended. Remove vegetables from oven and transfer to serving platter. Serve warm with Aioli on the side.

Lavender Cookies
Serves six
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature
1 cup Superfine sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 free-range eggs, well beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lavender buds
2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, cream the butter, Sugar, and salt until fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add in the flour and mix on low speed just until the dough is coming together. Sprinkle in the lavender buds and fold in gently. (don't over mix). Divide the dough into two mounds and wrap up well in plastic. Chill in the refrigerator for one hour at least. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. flour your work surface and unwrap the dough. Take half of it out and wrap up the other half to keep chilled in the fridge while you work. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin, taking care not to overwork or overstretch the tender dough. Cut out shapes of hearts, full moons, stars and crescents. Carefully move the cookie shapes to nonstick cookie sheets, placing them 1/2 inch apart, fitting as many as possible on each sheet. Bake, two sheets at a time, until the cookies are golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. Use a thin spatula to move the hot cookies to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container when cool. This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

More Sea Biscuits
Serves three
335g plain flour,
300g unsalted butter, chilled and diced,
1tbsp Cornish Sea Salt,
1tsp freshly ground black pepper,
2 sheets of nori seaweed,
1-2tbsp water to mix.

Crumble the seaweed in your hands or briefly give it a whizz in a food processor. Put the flour, butter, two-thirds of the salt and black pepper into a bowl and rub between your fingers to a crumb-like consistency. You can do this in a food processor if you wish. Fold in the seaweed, then slowly add the water to form a smooth dough. Transfer to a lightly floured table and roll the mixture into a cylinder about 4cm wide. You can roll it smaller for mini biscuits. Clingfilm the roll tightly and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Cut the cylinder into about 5mm slices and lay on a non-stick or lightly greased baking tray a couple of centimetres apart. Sprinkle generously with Cornish Sea Salt and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Sea salt is great in fried eggs, drop in glass and throw in a few salt granules. It gives the egg a nice crispy edge. Additionally rocket and crispy rock salt is yummy. Salty crispy belly pork again is another must try before you die. Salt has reaction with the blood if used correctly and is renowned by theologians for it's use in metaphysical rituals. Some countries say like garlic it wards of evil spirits and banishes unwanted flavours or even unwanted guests.