May 20, 2023

WEEKLY MENU 05.21.23

We’re talking about… salt during the Weekly Menu 05.21.23. Sounds flavorful, doesn’t it?

Why are we talking about salt during the Weekly Menu 05.21.23? The OG Baby Boy is a total salt hound. (Affiliate Links Follow. See Disclaimer Page for details.) We have a “salt vault” that he will occasionally dip things directly in to. I’ve never seen him double dip, which is a relief for us all, I’m sure. I am a tried and true kosher salt user, which is actually how we got here: the grocery store was out of my normal kosher salt brand, so I picked up a different kosher salt, expecting it to be the same.

Spoiler alert. It wasn’t.

And I’ve been struggling with it, honestly. My normal brand is much more crystallized with bigger grains. The new stuff is fluffier and smaller grained. Kosher salt isn’t a preciously bought commodity (unlike most of the other things at the grocery store these days), but I’m still not trashing it, no matter how much I’d like to. That’s a sacrilege for a salt lover such as myself. Yep. Baby Boy got his love of salt (and salty language, but that’s a story for another day) directly from his mother.

I firmly believe that the difference between a good cook and a great one is the judicious use of salt. Lack thereof is the biggest problem a recipe can have. It’s so important, that the “salt to taste” direction drives me a little batty. Have I over salted? Yep. Do I adjust seasoning as I go? Also a big yep. Mom straddled the line between enough and too much, so I’m careful, but salt is the single most important thing in cooking. IMHO.

I use salt in place of oil when cooking meat.

Check out my Chopped Burger recipe for more info. (Ignore the ugly picture – I’m working on that.)

There are all sorts of different salts out there. Two of my favorite podcasts, “Milk Street Radio” and “A Hotdog Is A Sandwich”, have featured salt stories in the last few weeks. One talks about all the secrets of salt, and the other asks if fancy salt is a scam. Both podcasts are fascinating and I would recommend listening to them. I’m on the fence if fancy salts are a scam, but any way you look at it, they are fun.

More Fun Facts about Salt

Only 6% of the salt that we use in the United States is used as food. It is used for many other reasons. In fact, 17% is used for keeping ice off of roads in the winter.

If you soak older, wrinkled apples in a mixture of salt and water, the wrinkles will go away.

Salt (sodium chloride) It is the only family of rocks regularly eaten by people.

Mixing salt in with the water of cut flowers in a vase will help the flowers live longer.

If you rub salt on your griddle, your pancakes will not stick.

Every cell of your body contains salt.

Adding a little salt to your boiling water when boiling eggs will help prevent the egg from cracking. It also stops the egg from coming out of the shell if it does crack.

You can test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water. Fresh eggs will sink and bad eggs will float.

Sprinkling salt in your pantry helps to keep ants away.

Your body needs 200 mg of salt per day to be healthy.

You can sprinkle salt between bricks or rocks where you don’t want grass to grow.

A hint of where my head is at: I read number 5 as “girdle” the first and second time through. I was thoroughly confused on what the pancakes were doing there.

The OG Baby Boy got a set of salt for Christmas a few years ago, and I’d like to say I’ve tried them all, but he holds them pretty close to his chest: they only come out on special occasions. They were a little pricy, but they’ve already lasted two and a half years, so…

I’m still proud of that gift. Salt is a mineral, and it’s a corrosive one, so you can’t keep it on the counter in anything metal. I love my salt vault, but they make salt cellars too. I keep a little wooden spoon in our salt vault, and I love that thing too. Here they all are:

We’re featuring salt during the Weekly Menu 05.21.23

On Sunday we’re starting with Parmesan Crisps finished with sea salt. I might sneak a little from the OG. Then we’re finishing up with salted skillet cookies. Plain finishing salt goes on those: I don’t think the Saffron flavor will work here.

I adore the way the salt crunches into the sweet cookies. The salty/sweet combo is definitely one of my favorites. Monday we’ll add a little kosher salt to a bag of frozen French fries, a la “Spiced Fries”. It’s an easy little trick to make store bought your own.

The weekend coming up is Memorial Day weekend and our Betwixt and Between Baby Boy has college friends coming to visit. Bert and I are thrilled to be heading out to a wedding that promises to be a blast, so we’re leaving crockpot goodness for the house happy hour with Italian Shredded Beef Hoagies. And all the boysies can make some salted s’mores if they get the firepit going, which is the current plan.