Sea Salts for your recipes

As one of the Cooks in our household, I am always looking to see what I can add to our meals to make it more flavorful and attractive for the eyes as well as the palate.  For years, I have flavored our meals with different herbal blends and have done away with salt, even though I let my guests season it to their liking - until now.

I have recently used a Yakima Applewood Smoked Sea Salt on boneless porkchops and I have to say that it was wonderful and reminded me of the days we have gone 18th century camping and roasted our meats in our reflector oven.  Since the meat roasts due to the heat, and smoke of the fire, it gives it a lovely smoked scent and flavor, without tasting bitter.  Now that it is November, our gear is packed, but the scent of the smoke bring back great memories with great friends by the firepit.  The Yakima salt will satisify the urge to be outdoors, while staying inside during the cold winter months ahead.

We also have 2 different pink salts - one from Bolivia and a Himalayan pink/rose sea salt.  Both are coarse, and would look inviting in a salt mill, for your guests to use.  The La Baleine is a all natural white salt that is harvested in France since the times of the Romans and the Alaea Hawaiian sea salt has "Alae " clay that adds flavor and color to traditional Hawaiian dishes.  This salt has also been used for blessing tools and canoes as well as for medicinal purposes thoughout the ages.

Check out our seas salts or herbal blends at:  http://www.bayberrymeadow.etsy.com/.  If you have a recipe that you enjoy using sea salt, let us know.

Herbed Gougere

This is a puffy-cheese-french traditional pastry.  Adding aromatic herbs of dill, parsley and chives, this treat will create a burst of flavors.  You can create individual puffs for hors d'oeuvres or shape it into a big ring for an appetizer.  Filling the center of the ring with chicken, fish or shrimp salad makes it a great dish for a summer lunch.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup coarsely grated Gruyere cheese
1 tablespoon each of chopped fresh parsley, dill and chives

In a saucepan, combine the butter, salt and 1 cup of water.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat, add the  flour all at once and beat well with a wooden spoon until the flour in incorporated.  Return the saucepan to moderate heat and cook until the dough becomes quite stiff and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Stir in 2/3 cup of the cheese and all of the chopped herbs.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Drop the dough by tablespoons onto the ungreased baking sheet to make individual puffs, or drop the dough by tablespoonfuls to form a ring.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.  Serve warm.

Be creative and add your choice of herbs and cheese.  Let us know of your creations.

Garlic-Sage Flowerpot Breads

Looking for something different for the holiday season?  If you really want to "WOW" your guests, serve these.  In my younger years. I would offer an herbal cooking workshop in other people's homes (for up to 12 people) and we would make these AWESOME breads.  They do take some time to make, but worth it.  The guests were able to take home their own seasoned flowerpot home with the recipe.

Before you begin the dough, make sure that you season the flowerpots.  You can use any size you like.  If you use a medium pot, it will use 10 balls of dough.

Season the pots by brushing the insides with vegetable oil, then placing them on a baking sheet and heating in  450 degree oven for one hour.  Cool, lightly wash (do not use soap) and dry the seasoned pots before using them. ( Do not put them in the dishwasher)

10 tablespoon butter                                                             
1 cup plain yogurt
4 cloves finely chopped  garlic                                                
1 egg lightly beaten, plus 1 egg yolk
1/3 cup chopped fresh sage or 1 tablespoon dried sage                         
About 3 cups of flour                                                                              
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lukewarm (105 to 115 degree) water                         
1 tablespoon milk
1 package active dry yeast                                                    
1 tablespoon grated Paremsan cheese

1. In a small skillet, melt the butter, add the garlic and saute until golden brown, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Set aside and stir in the sage.
2. Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it.  Stir in the sugar and let the mixture stand  for 5 minutes until the yeast begins to foam.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and the whole egg.  In a large bowl, stir together 3 cups of flour and the salt and make a well  in the center.  Pour in the yogurt and yeast mixtures, and stir until the mixture forms a soft dough.  Blend in 2 tablespoons of garlic-sage butter.
4.Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding up to 1/2 cup flour if necessary.  Form the dough into a ball and place it in a large greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a slightly dampened kitchen towel, set it aside in a warm, draft-free place, and let the dough rise until it doubles in bulk, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Lightly grease 4 small (4inches across and 3 1/2 inches deep) or 2 medium (4 3/4 inches across and 4 3/4 inches deep) flowerpots and line the bpttoms with circles of lightly greased parchment or foil.
6. Punch the dough down, then transfer it to a lightly floured surface.  Knead the dough for 2 minutes, then divide it into 4 portion.  Roll each portion into 5 balls, then dipping them in the remaining garlic-sage butter. Place the 5 balls of dough in each of the prepared flowerpots. (10 balls if using medium pots).  Set aside, uncovered, in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk, 30 to 45 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  In a small bowl, beat together the remaining egg yolk and the milk glaze. 
8. Brush the tops of the loaves with the egg glaze and sprinkle them with the Parmesan.  Place the pots on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for another 4 to 6 minutes (up to 8 minutes for medium loaves) or until the tops of the breads are golden brown.  Cool the loaves in the pots for 15 minutes, then run the tip of a knive around the edge of each loaf to loosen it and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 4 small or 2 medium loaves.

When I served these light and fluffy beauties, I placed the bread back into the flowerpot and arranged them it at each table setting.  Now, I know that there are shortcuts, like buying the dough already made, but making it yourself adds that extra "love" into your meal.   ENJOY!!!!!!!!