Salt is the most commonly used ingredient in my kitchen. As unhealthy as my physician regards it to be, it’s an essential element and one I don’t ever want to cook without. Over the past couple of years, I’ve started collecting fine sea salts from around the world. They’ve varied in size, shape, and color, and I sprinkle them over braised meats and pureed soups to add a pop of flavor and crunch to a dish.
Chef Milton’s bottled salt blends are made right here in Dallas. The offerings are extensive, with about sixteen different blends and salt-free rubs under the label and they’re adding new flavors all the time. I hope to try all of them eventually, but my first purchase was the Smoked Sea Salt and Pepper Mélange.
I first tasted this blend when I attended Local Yocal’s Steak 101 course earlier this year. Each cut was seasoned, grilled over natural charcoal, and finished with this salt blend. I really loved the subtle aroma of smoke the salt imparted, and the addition of pepper enhanced the flavor of their already delicious grass-fed Texas beef.
I’ve used it at home to season steaks and roasted vegetable salads. I’ve even incorporated it into my baking and sprinkled it on some shortbread cookies before baking them. They were buttery, salty, sweet, and had just a little bit of heat from the pepper in the blend. If you usually gravitate to sprinkling your shortbread with sugar before baking I would recommend giving one of their salts a try.
You can purchase the entire line of salts and seasoning blends at local farmers markets, Jimmy’s Food Store, and Central Market.
