Salt Block Cooking by Mark Bitterman

Author:Mark Bitterman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4494-3593-6
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
Published: 2013-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

COOKING ON (AND UNDER) SALT BLOCKS

Salt Brick Grilled Chicken

Salt-Fried Molasses Duck Breast with Scallion Pancakes and Espresso Hoisin

Salt Block Pressed Veal Paillard with Black Garlic Puree and Sage

Salt Block Cheesesteaks

Salt-Grilled Cheeseburger Sliders

Salt Block Beef Fajitas

Salt Block Seared Kobe Beef with Tarragon-Shallot Butter

Salt-Grilled Peppered Pork Tenderloin

Salt-Seared Calf’s Liver and Bacon

Salt-Crisped Whole Fish with Mint and Pickled Ginger

Salt Crust Scallops with Thai Lime Dipping Sauce

Salt Block Rosemary Potato Chips

Prawns Stir-Seared with Hot Aromatic Salt Rocks

Salt-Cooked Chanterelle Frittata

Salt-Baked Johnnycakes

Salt Block Asparagus Rolled in Pancetta with Mostarda Dipping Sauce

Salt-Seared Sweet Potato Pancakes with Hot Pepper Honey

Salt-Roasted Poultry Gizzards Seasoned with Pastrami Pepper

Salt-Baked Walnut Brioche Scones

Salt-Seared Pineapple Steaks with Curried Agave Drizzle

Cinnamon Salt Plantains with Lemon-Espresso Syrup

Salt Crust Cardamom Naan

Salt-Griddled Blini with Sour Cream and Salt-Cured Candied Strawberries

Salt-Baked Rustic Apple-Onion Tart with Blue Cheese

Salt Block Baked Pretzel Rolls with Mustard Butter

Salt-Baked Chocolate Chip–Oatmeal Whoppers

H

eat cooks and so does salt. What makes cooking on salt so cool is that heat and salt each get a chance to cook in their own way. Heat cooks by putting energy into food, firming proteins, melting fats, swelling starches, and making aromatic flavors bloom.

Salt cooks in an entirely different way, via chemical reactions. Moisture from the food dissolves the salt into its constituent ions—sodium, magnesium, calcium, chloride, carbonate, and so forth. These ions go to work breaking down the molecules in food. Complex proteins are broken down into amino acids, increasing flavor and tenderizing texture, so prawns tossed onto a bed of hot rock salt (see here) taste richer and more complex, and feel plumper to the bite. Salt also lowers the gelation temperature of starches, making them swell and soften sooner. This can be a subtle thing with sweet potato pancakes (see here) or an arresting thing with rosemary potato chips (see here).

Both salt and heat draw water out of food, concentrating the flavor and firming textures, but where heat does it by constricting proteins, wringing moisture out like a sponge, salt does it by gently pulling the moisture out of cells. What fire does by brute force, salt accomplishes with delicate diplomacy. Together, salt and heat play good cop/bad cop with your food—and they get results. Seared calf’s liver (see here) comes off a block moister, less gamey, and with a better sear, while beef fajitas (see here) seared on a salt block taste, quite simply, huge, while the meat stays wonderfully tender.

The five fundamentals for cooking on a salt block are moisture, time, temperature, thickness, and fat. The moisture in the food is what dissolves the salt of the salt block and frees it to intermingle with the food. Foods with less available moisture, like asparagus wrapped in pancetta (see here) or a rustic apple-onion tart (see here), dissolve less salt and dissolve it more slowly, and thus will be seasoned less as they cook. These dryer foods can cook on a salt block for a longer time without acquiring too much salt. Foods with lots of available moisture, like a roasted whole fish (see here) or johnnycakes (see here), will dissolve more water faster and will take on more salt more rapidly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.