Flavored Salt

We had a party on Friday and a wonderful guest brought me this foursome of flavored salt. It was such a sweet present! I read an article a few years ago about how if you're going to a party, you should always bring something for the hosts that's just for them; not a bottle of wine to be had during the party, but a really nice olive oil or balsamic vinegar or something that they wouldn't buy for themselves. As a frequent party host, I have to say it's so nice! I love getting a bottle of wine for the party, but this really was just so thoughtful and nice and something I wouldn't have gotten for myself.

I made some little crostini, spread on some ricotta, and tested each of the salts. There was Smoked Alderwood (super smoky and BBQ-like), Ghost Pepper (nice and spicy), Thai Ginger, and Espresso. They were so tasty and I can't wait to try them on other things. Jamie wants to try the ghost pepper salt for margaritas.

Thank you, Dre!!!

Salt Crusted Snapper

I went to the fish market in Hampton Bays this weekend and picked up a couple of things for a seafood fish. Mussels, calamari, and a beautiful red snapper. (Cor J fish market in Hampton Bays has an amazing selection of seafood and prices are great.) I'd been wanting to make a salt crusted fish since I saw someone do it on the Today show a while back. I love snapper, and their fresh snapper looked beautiful, so that was my fish. It doesn't take too much time, but it looks very impressive and is amazingly juicy and flavorful.

(This is for 4 people, but along with a few other things.)

Ingredients:
1 whole red snapper (cleaned, scaled and gutted)
2 lemons (1 quartered and one sliced thinly)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 1/2 cups kosher salt
6 egg whites
olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Dry off the fish. Rub olive oil all over it. In a metal bowl, beat the eggwhites until the form soft peaks. Then gently fold in the salt. Spread a thin layer of the salt mixture onto a baking sheet (lined w/ foil or parchment for easier clean up). This should be just a little bigger than the fish. Put the fish on top of the salt spread. Put the herbs and as many lemon slices that fit comfortably in the cavity of the fish with a little olive oil. Now cover the entire fish so that it is encased in the salt mixture. Put the whole thing in the oven.
Let it cook for about 35 minutes, then take it out and let it rest for 15. The salt crust should be hard. Crack the crust off the top of the fish and peel back the skin. Chop of the head of the fish (so you can remove the spine to serve pieces from the bottom.) Serve the fish in pieces. There should be about 2 servings on top of the spine and 2 below. Serve it with a quarter of a lemon and some olive oil.