The Spice of Life

To me, there are actually two different things that I consider the spice of life. One is variety, without variety, life and food, become bland and plain. Next, and just as important is the the topic at hand.

Salt. You gotta admit, this stuff is great. Did you know that as an American , you'll use more than 16 tons of salt in your lifetime? About 40% of that will go on our roads for de-icing purposes. This is just another great use for salt, it is the most efficient de-icing agent we can use, and it's also the safest!

Salt is also an "essential nutrient" which means that it is something our body needs to survive, but cannot produce on it's own. We literally, have to eat salt. Without the sodium and the chloride from it, we will not survive.

Allright, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you have salt at your house.

Have you tasted it? Seriously, have you ever tasted just your salt. Have you ever put several different salts next to each other to taste the difference in them all? I do this regularly with new brands or salt types at the house. Try iodized, kosher and sea salt. Try each one separately with a swish of water afterwards to clean your palate. If you haven't already done this, you'll be amazed at the differences in flavor and texture. I keep all three in our pantry and each type of salt has it's own particular uses.

I could go on a lot longer about salt, but I won't. If you'd like to know more about it, just shoot me an e-mail and I'll bore you in private. In the meantime try this recipe out.

Salt baked fish? You'll be amazed. Give this a shot.

Salt Roasted Snapper.
4 cups salt, preferably kosher(I wouldn't use iodized here)
1 whole snapper or similar fish, about 2-2 1/2 pounds (very important that the skin is on still)
1 lemon
2 sprig thyme
2 small sprigs rosemary

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rinse fish inside and out with cold water, make sure there are no gills, guts or scales left.
Place herbs inside cavity of fish. Cut about 3-4 slices of lemon and place slices inside cavity of fish. Line a roasting pan with foil and place 2 cups of salt on foil. Place fish on top of salt and place remaining 2 cups on top of fish. You want the fish basically covered tip to tail in salt. Roast until fish is at your desired doneness. You'll need an instant read thermometer here since you cannot peek through the salt.
Once your fish is done, tap the salt on it and it should flake right off. Now use a long spatula to seperate the top filet from the bones, it'll slide right off. Next, pull up on head of fish and lift the skeleton right off of the bottom filet. Now you're all set.

Give this recipe a try, you won't regret it (unless your allergic to fish). Oh, and try a salt tasting at your house, it's fun and surprising.

Eat Well,
J.G.