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The Salt Table’s Cinnamon Sugar melts into the cranberries better than using ground cinnamon by itself, for a clearer sauce and brighter cinnamon flavor. This makes a great condiment not only for the Thanksgiving Turkey, but for any roast pork, game (such as venison), or spooned into baked and split sweet potatoes. It’s even great slathered onto breakfast toast!
Zest of half an orange, removed in 1-2 large pieces with a vegetable peeler
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) bourbon
HOW TO MAKE IT:
Wash the berries well in cold water and drain in a colander. Put them into a stainless-steel or enamel-lined heavy-bottomed pot. Add half a cup of water, both sugars, and the pieces of zest. Stir well and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
Adjust the heat to a steady simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries “pop” and are tender and transparent, about 10-15 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the bourbon. Let it cool slightly, then remove and discard the orange zest and pour it into a clean pint jar or glass bowl. Allow to cool completely, cover tightly, and refrigerate until needed. Let it warm to room temperature before serving or gently reheat over low heat, stirring often, and serve warm.
Homemade apple pies and cobblers are to fall what fruitcake is to Christmas, and The Salt Table’s Cinnamon Sugar makes putting the filling together a cinch. Since the flavor is infused into the sugar, it’s more intense than regular sugar, you wouldn’t want to use it in the same proportions that you’d use regular cinnamon sugar, which is just ground cinnamon blended with white sugar. Here it’s blended with Turbinado (raw) sugar.
¼-½ cup Turbinado (raw) sugar or regular granulated sugar
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 tablespoons instant-blending or all-purpose flour
Basic Pastry (Recipe Follows) or 1 package roll-out pie crust
1 large egg white lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Vanilla, cinnamon ice cream, or dulce de leche, for serving, optional
HOW TO MAKE IT:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 400° F. Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples. Put them in a ceramic or glass bowl and sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons of the Cinnamon Sugar, Turbinado sugar to taste, and the bourbon. Toss gently and let stand while you prepare the crust.
Roll out 2/3 of the pastry to a little less than 1/8-inch thick. Line a 9-to-9½-inch deep-dish pie plate or 9-inch round casserole with it. Trim the edges of the crust so that the pastry overlaps the sides by about half an inch. Lightly prick the bottom with a fork. Sprinkle the instant-blending flour over the apples, fold it in, and pour the apples and their accumulated juice into the pastry-lined dish. Level them with a spatula.
Roll out the remaining pastry, trim it to completely cover the top of the cobbler, cut 2-3 vent holes in the pastry with a small, decorative cutter, and lay the pastry over the apple filling. Moisten the edges with cold water and fold the bottom pastry over it, then crimp the edges to seal it. If you like, cut decorative shapes out of the excess pastry, paint the backs with cold water, and lay them over the edges of the crust. Brush the entire top crust lightly with the diluted egg white and sprinkle it with the remaining tablespoon of Cinnamon Sugar.
Set the dish on a rimmed baking sheet and put it into the center of the oven. Bake 25 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees. Bake until the filling is bubbling at the center and the crust is golden brown, about 30-35 minutes longer. Let it cool on a wire rack for at least 15-20 minutes before serving, if liked, with a scoop of vanilla, cinnamon, or dulce de leche ice cream.
Basic Pastry
Makes enough to make 2 9-inch pie shells, 1 double crust pie, or to cover 4 individual potpies
1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled lard or shortening, cut into bits
8 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into bits
¼ to ½ cup ice water
Sift or whisk together the flour, salt, and sage. Cut in the shortening and butter with a pastry blender until the flour resembles coarse meal with random lumps of fat no larger than small peas. Stir in ¼ cup of ice water and work it in. Continue adding water by spoonfuls as needed until the dough is holding together but not wet.
Gather the pastry into two balls (for the above recipe, make one a little larger than the other) press each one into a 1-inch thick flat disk, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or for up to 2 days. Let it come almost to room temperature before rolling it out.
Seasoning traditional Italian-style meatballs is a cinch with The Salt Table’s Southern Italian Blend. Although spaghetti and meatballs are a standard weeknight meal in our country, meatballs are not served as a pasta sauce in Italy. These can be used Italian-style, as a meat dish, or American-style as a pasta sauce or hot sandwich filling
4 cups marinara sauce (good bottled or Southern Italian Marinara, recipe following)
Salt (for the pasta, if using)
12-16 ounces spaghetti, thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta, for serving, optional
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for serving optional
HOW TO MAKE
Put the bread in a mixing bowl and drizzle enough milk over it to saturate it. Let it soak for a minute, then squeeze it dry, discarding the milk. Crumble the bread into the bowl. Crumble in the beef and add the onion. Season well with Southern Italian Blend and mix until everything is evenly blended. Moisten your hands with water and form the meat into 1½-inch balls.
Put enough oil in a 3-4 quart Dutch oven to cover the bottom by ¼-inch and put it over medium heat. When it’s hot, raise the heat to medium high, add enough meatballs to fill the pan without crowding, and brown them on all sides, about 3 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon to a plate and repeat until all the meatballs have been browned.
Drain and discard the browning oil and wipe out the pan, but don’t wash it. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the onion and return the pot to medium heat. Sauté, stirring often, until the onion is softened and golden, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about half a minute, then pour in the wine. Bring it to a boil and cook until it loses its sharp alcoholic aroma. Add in the marinara, bring it to a simmer, and simmer about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the meatballs to the sauce, bring it back to a simmer, and adjust the heat to a slow, steady simmer. Simmer until the sauce is thick and the meatballs are very tender and deeply flavored with the sauce, at least 1 hour—longer won’t hurt.
The meatballs can be served as a meat dish, on toasted sandwich rolls as a sandwich filling, or as a sauce for pasta. To serve the meatballs with pasta, bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil. Stir in a small handful of salt and the pasta, bring it back to a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente (firm to the bite), using the package directions as a rough guide. Drain and toss with a cup of sauce, then serve topped with meatballs, passing the cheese separately.
Basic “Southern Italian” Marinara
You can use a jar of marinara for the above recipe, (they’re right at 4 cups) or make your own: it’s easy with The Salt Table’s Southern Italian Grinder Blend. Southern Italian Blend has garlic powder in it, so you can omit the fresh garlic, although it freshens the flavor.
Put the oil and onion in a 3-4-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté until the onion is pale gold, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, if using, and sauté until fragrant, about half a minute.
Add the tomatoes and season well with Southern Italian Blend. Bring it to a boil, then adjust the heat to a slow, steady simmer, and let it cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and the flavors are well-blended, about half an hour.
The Tybee Island Coast Grinder Blend is one of Carol’s award-winning blends and best selling blends for seafood of all types. This recipe features this versatile blend for the perfect appetizer. Serve it with crackers and chips and enjoy it at any picnic or backyard party.
1 6½-ounce can minced clams, drained but juice reserved
Worcestershire sauce
Hot sauce such as Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 lemon cut in half
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
Sturdy “scoop” style corn chips or ruffled potato chips
HOW TO MAKE:
Whip together the cream cheese and sour cream with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Blend in 2 teaspoons Tybee Blend and 3 tablespoons of reserved clam juice. Blend in several dashes of Worcestershire and hot sauce and a teaspoon of lemon juice, and fold in the parsley. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so to allow the flavors to blend.
Taste and adjust the Tybee Blend, Worcestershire, hot sauce, lemon juice, and clam juice. It can be served right away, but will be better if chilled for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. If you’ve chilled it, let it sit at room temperature at least 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley if liked and serve with “scoop” corn chips or ruffled potato chips.
Recipe by Damon Lee Fowler, featuring
