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These amazing recipes (below) were developed by the award-winning cookbook author, Damon Lee Fowler. Bookmark this page and visit often as we will be adding new recipes every week.
Also, be sure to check out three of Damon Lee Fowler’s most popular cookbooks. All are available for sale at the Salt Table shops and online. And, all three are autographed.
Damon Lee Fowler (left) recently held a booksigning at The Salt Table shops in Savannah and Pooler Georgia. Carol and Dave are very proud to host such a prolific and notable cookbook author. His books are available in the shops and online. These books are also autographed by Damon.
About the Author: Damon Lee Fowler is a culinary historian, cooking teacher and food writer. A nationally recognized authority on Southern cooking, he is the author of nine cookbooks, including Classical Southern Cooking, Beans, Greens, & Sweet Georgia Peaches, Savannah Chef’s Table, Essentials of Southern Cooking and, most recently, Ham: A Savor the South Cookbook. He has written historical commentary on a number of historical cookbooks and was editor and recipe developer for Dining At Monticello for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. He is the featured food writer for the Savannah Morning News and has written for such national publications as Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Garden & Gun, Relish and Local Palate. He lives, eats, and writes in Savannah, Georgia.
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Based on a classic dish from the traditional cooking of Genoa, Italy and a strikingly similar dish that my mother made often during my childhood, this is so easy to put together and the All Round Good Grinder Blend is a perfect seasoning to enhance its earthy character.
Other Salt Table Seasonings that are perfect for this dish are Tybee Island Coastal Blend, Spanish Moss Blend, and Southern Italian Blend.
Serves 4
1½ pounds small, waxy boiling potatoes
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, trimmed, split, peeled, and sliced as thinly as possible
Salt Table All Round Good Grinder Blend
1 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley, optional
4 fresh fish fillets (catfish, cod, perch, snapper, or even shad), about 8 ounces each
How To Make It:
Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450° F. Scrub the potatoes under cold running water. Peel and slice as thinly as you can—no more than 1/8-inch-thick.
Lightly rub a 9 x 13-inch bake-and-serve dish with butter or oil and put in the potatoes. Scatter half the onions over the potatoes and drizzle them with 4 tablespoons of oil. Toss gently to coat and then season liberally with All Round Good Grinder Blend. Toss, and spread them so that all the potatoes are lying flat. Bake in the upper third of the oven until the onions wilt and begin to brown and the potatoes are beginning to get tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Remove the dish from the oven, toss the potatoes again, and lay the fish fillets over the top in a single layer. Season them well with All Round Good Grinder Blend, then scatter the remaining onions over the fish, drizzle with the remaining oil, and bake until the potatoes and fish is just cooked through and the onions are lightly browned, basting occasionally with the oil in the dish, about 15-20 minutes more, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Serve hot from the baking dish.
Salt Table’s All Round Good Grinder Blendor Tybee Island Coastal Blend, or Southern Italian Blend
Equally perfect for busy weeknight dinners as well as weekend entertaining, these crumb-topped fillets are simple to put together, even more-so when they’re seasoned with All Round Good Grinder Blend. They would also be delightful with Tybee Island Coastal Blend or Southern Italian Blend.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs, preferably homemade (see method)
4 fresh fish fillets (preferably locally caught flounder, snapper, grouper, or shad)
Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450° F. Put 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. When the oil is warm, sprinkle in the crumbs and toss until they’re coated evenly. Turn off the heat.
Rub the bottom of a baking dish that will snugly hold the fish in one layer with olive oil. Pat the fish dry, put them into baking dish, skin-side down, and season well All Round Good Grinder Blend. Sprinkle them with the parsley if using and then the oiled crumbs.
Bake until the fish is cooked through and the crumbs are toasted, about 8-15 minutes, depending on thickness of fillets. Serve at once with lemon wedges.
Homemade Dry Breadcrumbs
Even if the ready-made boxed crumbs were from good bread (they aren’t), their texture and flavor is never as good as those that are homemade, and making your own is not enough trouble to justify taking the short cut. Here is my method.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Trim the crust from stale, unflavored (without sugar, herbs, garlic, cheese, olives, etc.) European-style bread and cut into 1-inch cubes. Spread the cubes on a rimmed baking sheet in one layer. Bake, stirring occasionally, until dry and crisp and just barely golden. Let them cool completely. In batches, transfer to a sealed freezer bag and crush to crumbs with a rolling pin. You may also process in a food processor fitted with a steel blade until evenly ground. Keep in mind that the dry, crisp bread is likely to scratch the sides of the plastic work bowl over time. If you want to keep that from happening, go to the trouble of crushing them by hand. Dry crumbs keep indefinitely when stored in airtight tins.
The 1950s and 60s classic Chicken Spaghetti could be quite involved since the chicken, sauce, and spaghetti all cook separately and are then assembled. This is a streamlined take on the idea that goes together in minutes thanks to The Salt Table’s Pride Blend and market rotisserie chicken. The pasta bakes in the same big skillet in which you’ve made the sauce.
This is also very nice made with penne or rotini (short fusilli).
Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
½ pound (1 8-ounce package) small brown (crimini) mushrooms
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, split, peeled, and diced small
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed, peeled, and minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
About 2 teaspoons Salt Table Pride Blend, to taste
½ cup dry vermouth
1 24-ounce jar marinara sauce
½ cup chicken broth
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (boned and skinned) or other cooked chicken Salt Table sea salt
12 ounces (¾ of a 1-pound box) spaghetti
1 cup whole milk ricotta
½ pound (8 ounces) shredded fresh mozzarella
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
How to Make It:
Put 4 quarts water on to boil in 6 quart pot over high heat. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350° F. Wipe the mushrooms clean with dry paper towel and slice them.
Put the olive oil and onion in an oven-safe deep, 12-inch skillet or 3-quart braising pan over medium heat. Sauté until translucent and pale gold, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until firm and beginning to color, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano and season to taste with Pride Blend. Add the vermouth and bring it to a boil, stirring to loosen any cooking residue. Stir in the marinara and broth and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken, bring it back to a simmer, and lower the heat. Simmer about five minutes to blend the flavors. Turn off the heat.
When the water is boiling, add a small handful of salt and stir in spaghetti. Cook, stirring often, until slightly less than al dente. Drain and add to sauce, tossing until evenly coated. Turn off heat and stir 1 cup ricotta and 2/3 of the mozzarella. Gently toss to mix, taste, and adjust the Pride Blend as needed. Smooth the top and sprinkle the with remaining mozzarella and the Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly over it.
Bake in the center of the oven until bubbly and lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes. Let it settle for 10 minutes before serving it directly from the pan.
Salt Table’s All Round Good Grinder Blend (or Tybee Island Coastal Blend)
Adapted from my book Essentials of Southern Cooking (Lyons Press/2013), the recipe was originally intended for grouper, but it also works well with sea trout (photographed), sea bass, snapper, pompano, and cod.
The Salt Table’s All Round Good Grinder Blend not only simplifies the seasoning but actually enhances the orange, ginger, and sherry combination better than the original seasonings. Another great Salt Table Seasoning for it would be Tybee Island Coastal Blend.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
4 thick grouper, sea trout, sea bass, snapper, or cod fillets (about 2 pounds, or 8-ounces each)
4 small or 2 large scallions or other green onions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
1 large lemon
1 medium orange
½ cup dry sherry
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into teaspoon-size bits
How to Make It:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450° F. Rinse the fish under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Butter a flameproof casserole that will hold fish in one layer. Season the fish well on both sides with All Round Good Grinder Blend and put in dish, skin-side down. Sprinkle the scallions over it, reserving 2 tablespoons of the greens. Remove the zest from the lemon and half of orange with a bar zester (or vegetable peeler and cut into julienne with a sharp knife). Sprinkle these over the fish. Cut the lemon and orange in half.
Juice the lemon and one half of the orange through strainer set over a glass or stainless-steel bowl. You should have equal parts orange and lemon juice—about 2 tablespoons of each. Stir them together and stir in the sherry and ginger. Pour it over fish. Bake in center of oven, basting several times, until it’s just cooked through (it will flake slightly and be opaque in the center), about 15–18 minutes, depending on thickness.
Remove the fish to a warm platter. Put the casserole over direct medium-high heat (or if it’s not flameproof, transfer the cooking liquid to a saucepan). Bring it to a boil, and boil, stirring and scraping the pan occasionally, until the liquid is reduced by half. Turn off heat, and whisk in the butter by bits. Spoon a little of the sauce over the fish and pour remainder into a sauceboat. Sprinkle the fish with reserved green onion tops and serve, passing the sauce separately.
Salt Table’s All Round Good Grinder Blend (or Southern Italian Blend)
Adapted from my book Ham: A Savor the South® Cookbook, this hearty sauce is simplified by seasoning it with All Round Good Grinder Blend. Southern Italian Blend would be another excellent seasoning as would Cobblestone Blend. I serve it as a main dish followed by a simple mixed green salad.
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter or 1½ tablespoons butter and 1½ tablespoons olive oil
1 cup small-diced cooked ham
1 medium yellow onion, split lengthwise, peeled, and diced small
1 pound penne or other short, tubular pasta or short fusilli (rotini)
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
How to make it:
Heat the butter (or butter and oil) in a large (3 quart) sauté pan over medium heat until hot and bubbly. Add the ham and sauté until it’s beginning to color on the edges. Add the onion and sauté until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and rosemary (if using) and toss until fragrant, about half a minute. Season well with Good Grinder Blend.
Pour in the wine and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to release any browned cooking residue. Let it boil until it is mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, bring it to a boil, and reduce the heat to a steady simmer. Simmer, stirring every now and again, until the sauce is thick, about 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the Good Grinder Blend and turn off the heat.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil in a 6-8 quart pot. Toss in at least 1 rounded tablespoon Halle or Himalayan Pink salt, stir, and stir in the pasta. Cook until al dente (firm to the bite, but cooked all the way through and not pasty at the center). When the pasta is almost done, gently reheat the sauce over medium low heat.
When the pasta is ready, drain it quickly, being careful not to over-drain it, and immediately toss it with the sauce. Sprinkle ½ cup of the cheese over it, toss well, and serve immediately, passing the remaining cheese separately.
The Salt Table’s All Round Good Grinder Blend is, as its name suggests, great with almost anything, and is very nice with seafood. It’s a great shortcut to flavor in this classic pasta sauce. Other Salt Table blends that would also be great in this sauce are Pride Blend, Southern Italian Blend, and Tybee Island Coastal Blend.
2 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus ½ cup for serving
How to make it:
Scrub mussels under cold running water. Cover with cold water and let soak a few minutes. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rapid boil.
Meanwhile, put the oil and shallot in a 3-quart saucepan and sauté over medium high heat until it’s colored pale gold, tossing often. Add the garlic and hot pepper sauté ½ minute. Add the wine and 2 teaspoons of Pride Blend, bring to boil, and simmer 2-3 minutes. Drain and add mussels. Cover and cook until the mussels pop open, removing them to bowl as they open.
When all the mussels are opened, adjust the heat to medium. Shuck the mussels, discarding their shells, and add their accumulated juices to the pan. Boil the cooking liquid until it has evaporated by half. Turn off the heat.
When the pot of water is boiling, stir in a small handful of salt and the pasta. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, using the package directions as rough guide. When pasta is almost done, reheat sauce over medium heat and when bubbling add mussels. Gently toss until hot through. Taste and adjust the Pride Blend and turn off heat.
When the pasta is done, immediately drain and transfer it to a warm bowl. Add the sauce, butter, cheese and parsley (if using) and toss well. Serve immediately, passing more cheese separately.
(Salt Table blends that are also great with this asparagus recipe are Leek, Chive, and Onion Seasoning and Dip Blend and Tybee Island Coastal Blend.)
One of the great dishes of spring’s table in Parma, Italy, is fresh, fat asparagus, layered with butter and cheese and baked until the cheese is just barely golden. The Salt Table’s Shamrock Dust really brings out the fresh spring flavor in this classic dish.
Cut off about an inch of the asparagus stem base and stand it in a vase or bowl of cold water for at least half an hour. Peel the tough parts of the stem with a vegetable peeler and drop them into a basin with cold water. Leave the asparagus in the water until you are ready to cook it, but for no more than 2 hours.
Bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a large, deep skillet and prepare a basin of ice water. Add about a tablespoon of salt to the boiling water and slip in the asparagus. Cook 1-2 minutes, then immediately drain and drop into the ice water until cold. Drain and pat dry. This can be done up to 2 days ahead.
Half an hour before serving, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450° F. Butter a 3-quart casserole or gratin dish. Layer the asparagus with a sprinkling of Shamrock Dust, melted butter, and a little Parmigiano, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
The Salt Table’s Shamrock Dust (or All ‘Round Good Grinder Blend, or Southern Italian Blend)
We don’t often give leeks a starring role on their own, but in the spring when they’re fresh and new they make a great vegetable side dish. The Salt Table’s Shamrock Dust is the perfect seasoning to bring out their freshest and best spring flavor.
Trim the roots and withered leaves from the leeks. Trim the green tops to a uniform length that will fit into the gratin dish. Holding them root-end-up, wash well under cold running water, bending back the leaves to get all the grit between the layers. If you’ve not been able to find slender leeks, cut them in half lengthwise. Drop them into a basin of cold water.
Put enough water to half cover the leeks in a wide, shallow skillet that will hold them in one layer. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Drain the onions and add them to the pan. Loosely cover, let it come back to a boil, then uncover, add a healthy pinch of Pink Salt, and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer until just tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Butter a large oval gratin dish. Remove the leeks with a slotted spatula or tongs, drain well, and transfer them to the prepared dish. Season them with Shamrock Dust.
Raise the heat under the skillet to medium-high and boil the liquid down to 2 tablespoons. Add the cream and let it come to a boil. Let it boil until it’s lightly reduced and slightly thickened. Pour the cream evenly over the leeks. You may make it through this step as much as 4 hours ahead. Let cool completely and loosely cover. Refrigerating is not necessary.
About 45 minutes before serving, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450° F. Sprinkle the leeks with the Parmigiano-Reggiano and bake until golden and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes. Serve warm.
The natural coconut flavor of the Salt Table’s Coconut Sugar intensifies the flavor of fresh grated coconut and, when you don’t have a fresh nut to grate, perks up frozen flaked coconut.
Serves 6 to 8
INGREDIENTS:
1 small, fresh coconut with juice or about 2 cups unsweetened frozen coconut, thawed
1 fresh, ripe pineapple
6 large, sweet oranges, such as navel or Honeybell
12-15 Maraschino Cherries, pitted and halved, optional
HOW TO MAKE IT:
If not using a fresh coconut, skip to step 2. Fit a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl. With a skewer, ice pick, or Philips-head screwdriver, punch out the stem scars that make the monkey face on one side of the coconut. Invert it over the strainer and drain. The juice should smell of fresh coconut: if it’s musty, discard the whole thing. Lay the nut on an unbreakable surface (a patio, bare concrete floor, front walk). Tap it firmly around the middle with a hammer, rotating, until it cracks and splits. Turn each half rounded end up, and tap until the shell breaks apart. Pry the white flesh from the shell, peel off the brown skin, and shred the nutmeat with a fine grater.
Cut off the stem and sprout ends of the pineapple, and peel it. Cut out the core and slice the pineapple in 1/4-inch thick pieces. A pineapple corer, which looks like a corkscrew on steroids, makes short work of this step or if you’re lucky, some grocers will peel and core it for you. Cut the sliced pineapple into bite-sized chunks.
Cut off the stem and blossom ends of the orange, cutting all the way through to the pulp. Holding the fruit over a bowl to catch the juices, peel them by cutting all the way through to the inner pulp. Slice crosswise ¼-inch-thick and remove the seeds from each slice.
Cover the bottom of a deep glass bowl with a layer of oranges, sprinkle generously with coconut, a teaspoon or so of the coconut sugar, and a tablespoon or so regular granulated sugar to taste. Cover with a layer of pineapple and sprinkle with more coconut, coconut sugar, and regular sugar. If liked, scatter a few cherry halves among the pineapple. Repeat until all the fruit is in the dish, finishing with a layer of oranges and a thick one of coconut and, if using, cherry halves for garnish. Let stand 1 hour before serving or cover tightly and refrigerate until needed.
This old-fashioned holiday treat has lost a lot of its cachet thanks to the advent of packaged flavored gelatin, but it is a lovely, light dessert that (somewhat) counterbalances heavy holiday fare, especially when we’ve rather over-indulged ourselves.
The Salt Table’s Cinnamon and Vanilla infused sugars simplify the spicing of this traditional treat and infuse them with deep flavor without having to food with whole cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans.
Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from half of a large or all of a small lemon in 2-3 pieces. Halve and juice the lemons through strainer. Bring 2 cups of water and the zest to a boil in a small saucepan. Adjust the heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, dissolve the gelatin in remaining ¼ cup cold water and let it soften 5 minutes. Add both sugars to the simmering water and stir until dissolved. Turn off the heat. Add the softened gelatin and stir well, making sure that the gelatin completely dissolves. Let it cool.
Stir in the sherry and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Taste and adjust the lemon juice, stir well, and pour it into individual glass or crystal dishes such as champagne glasses or, if you happen to have them, those trumpet-shaped jelly glasses. Refrigerate until set, about 4 hours. Serve with Bourbon Custard poured over each, or pass the custard in a pitcher.
Bourbon Custard
The Salt Table’s Vanilla Sugar infuses delicate but distinctive vanilla flavoring into this traditional Southern treat without the trouble a whole vanilla bean or sharp flavor that vanilla extract often imparts.
7 tablespoons (½ cup minus 1 tablespoon) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon
HOW TO MAKE IT:
If you don’t have a really heavy-bottomed saucepan with a copper or aluminum core, prepare the bottom pan of a double boiler with simmering water. Over direct medium heat, scald the milk in a heavy-bottomed pan or top pan of a double boiler, bringing it just under the boiling point. When it’s almost boiling, if you’re using the heavy pan, lower the heat to medium-low or put the double-boiler top pan over the pan of simmering water.
In heatproof bowl, beat together the egg yolks and both sugars until it’s light and smooth and runs off the spoon in ribbons. Slowly beat in 1 cup of the hot milk, then slowly beat into the remaining hot milk.
Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden or metal spoon (not silicone), until it thickly coats the back of the spoon, about 3-5 minutes. Remove it from the heat (if using a double boiler, remove it from over the water) and stir until cooled slightly, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the bourbon. Let it cool completely, cover, and chill before serving
Recipe by Damon Lee Fowler, featuring
