Thank you so much for the chile salt inspiration. We grow lots of different chilled in our Luberon garden, and often have a ridiculous glut.
Generally I just dry them all in the sun and then process some into flakes.
They never all get used from year to year and many just sit there looking pretty but gathering dust till the next years crop come along and we discard the old ones .
The salt is a lovely idea and will be a nice addition to the gifts I take when visiting friend
I only signed up this week and already one winner.
Those usually need to be plumbed in, but I've had these kind of attachments (below) for toilets and they're inexpensive and work well, and if you're handy they can be installed without a plumber: https://amzn.to/3CA2ZYo (some are better than others so it might be helpful to read reviews!)
Okay. I am going to try the chili pepper salt. I make basil salt to remind me of my Sicilian nona. It lasts and lasts and lasts. Speak of the chili, I do make sriracha when there are lots of hot peppers available. I call the green sriracha "Hotcha." Easy to make.
Sorry to bother, but, I forgot to copy off the recipe for the French Apple Cake. I cannot eat sugar but, I love reading your recipes and your blog, David. I wanted to share this recipe with a friend who is a restauranteur and caterer….I Believe it had gotten rave reviews. I have seen recents recipes under the ‘recipe’ heading but, not this specific one. Thank you. You mentioned it again in a comment and I have now got to have it.🤗
Having googled the difference between "normal" salt and kosher salt and not finding any real description as to what is special about kosher salt. The thing with kosher salt is size of salt chrystals? Flavour?
I use Guerande-salt since kosher salt is not available in my part of the world.
Kosher salt is less acrid and bitter than granulated table salt. If you take a taste of a few grains of kosher salt, then a few grains of granulated table salt, you'll taste the difference pretty quickly : )
What adds to (my) confusion is the word "kosher" I guess. With some effort I might be able to find kosher salt but it would be around 20 dollars which feels like alot for salt.
Following a head injury last year my sense of taste has been altered to only really being able to taste salt and sweet properly so salt has taken on a new meaning.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Thanks for your response David. I see that you are a true Eco Warrior! A lot of us are doing what we can do to help save the planet. - and none of us are perfect in this world where 90% of what we buy is packaged in plastic. You have such a wide audience - I love that you talk about how you reuse bags at the market. So many people are so used to everything being super convenient and disposable, so I think the more we talk about alternatives and the reasons for them, the better. And you've got a great platform for that! I think you should talk more about all the great ways you are being eco-friendly and not polluting. - by recycling, reusing - and giving up toilet paper! Again - I love your work - you brighten my day. Thank you for all you do. - JoAnne
Hi David - I love your newsletter, books, recipes and I follow you on Instagram. I love that you bring your bags to the market! I’m a big promoter of reducing plastic in our lives. So I implore you to please find an alternative to plastic wrap (you mentioned bringing something back from the US, can’t remember the name, something like “stretch-tite”). There are many alternatives available now. Please use them! Respectfully, your fan - JoAnne in Albany, CA
That's something people don't talk much about but it's something that's easy to change and is actually more hygienic, too! : )
I literally go through less than one roll of plastic wrap a year and reuse it - I also don't drive a car, and am a fervent composter and recycler, and I eat less seafood now (I mostly eat sardines and mackerel), since that's also a major source of plastic waste (about half the plastic in the ocean are discarded fishing nets from commercial fishing): https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/latest-news/marine-debris-plastic-fishing-gear/
But yes, all these things are good to be mindful of : )
Giving up tp? I use a bidet rinsing system, but still need some tp at times. Then there's the drying to be done after rinsing. My system does not have a blow dryer, so I use small washable cloths.
Cracks me up when you talk about the French re: spicy foods. We were in San Sebastián in January and popped over Espelette one day. It's a charming itty bitty town, and we picked up lots of pepper products to take home! Thanks for the recipe, and good luck with the address change!
French people tend to use herbs whereas other cultures are more prone to uses spices. To some, they think the spices hide the flavors of the ingredients, such as adding a lot of cinnamon to apple desserts (there's a French Apple Cake recipe on my blog and Americans have a hard time not adding cinnamon to it - I tell them they certainly can, but then it wouldn't be "French" 😉) But as an Indian friend who lives in France and writes about Indian food, told me sometimes people don't understand that the spices are part of the flavors. They're not meant to hide anything but are integral to the flavor.
There's no right or wrong, of course, but it is a cultural difference!
I recently took advantage of an offer for a free bag of Colima sea salt, thinking, well it's salt and if it's not awesome at least I only paid shipping... I've not really tried a lot of different salts but it is wonderful and after reading this post I thought you might be interested in it. I checked and the free bag offer is still on. (It's from Ava Jane's Kitchen.)
I like to make Rosemary salt using the same method. The best part is that it doesn’t need to be dried and keeps forever! Though, I manage to use it rather quickly when making rotisserie chicken.
Can you grow rosemary in your yard? It’s a nice looking shrub, that you can eat!😉
We have rosemary but it's not as prolific as the other herbs, namely sage and tarrage, which are explosive! If you like rosemary, this Tuscan Rub is very, very good: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/my-stash-1/
Thank you so much for the chile salt inspiration. We grow lots of different chilled in our Luberon garden, and often have a ridiculous glut.
Generally I just dry them all in the sun and then process some into flakes.
They never all get used from year to year and many just sit there looking pretty but gathering dust till the next years crop come along and we discard the old ones .
The salt is a lovely idea and will be a nice addition to the gifts I take when visiting friend
I only signed up this week and already one winner.
Thank you again
Bettina
I just made a batch with our bumper crop of Mad Hatter peppers. I’m excited to have a container of spicy salt at my fingertips!
I'm making some this week using a combination of two Peruvian peppers from a local Sonoma grower.
I absolutely love the salt cellar in the photograph. We’re can I find one just like it?
Would love to give up toilet paper.....and so.....there must be times, what do you use? Not trying to intrude.
We have handheld sprayers in our bathrooms, similar to these: https://www.bidet-shower.co.uk/bidet-showers/grohe-tempesta-f-bidet-shower-set/ They're popular in many countries outside of the U.S. and they're also great for cleaning the bowl, too.
Those usually need to be plumbed in, but I've had these kind of attachments (below) for toilets and they're inexpensive and work well, and if you're handy they can be installed without a plumber: https://amzn.to/3CA2ZYo (some are better than others so it might be helpful to read reviews!)
Okay. I am going to try the chili pepper salt. I make basil salt to remind me of my Sicilian nona. It lasts and lasts and lasts. Speak of the chili, I do make sriracha when there are lots of hot peppers available. I call the green sriracha "Hotcha." Easy to make.
Sorry to bother, but, I forgot to copy off the recipe for the French Apple Cake. I cannot eat sugar but, I love reading your recipes and your blog, David. I wanted to share this recipe with a friend who is a restauranteur and caterer….I Believe it had gotten rave reviews. I have seen recents recipes under the ‘recipe’ heading but, not this specific one. Thank you. You mentioned it again in a comment and I have now got to have it.🤗
That recipe is here: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/dorie-greenspan-french-apple-cake-recipe/
And….I now know to go to Davidlebovitz.com to find recipes…Whew…glad to not have to figure that one out for myself🙄🤓
Thank you for your time🤗🌺
Having googled the difference between "normal" salt and kosher salt and not finding any real description as to what is special about kosher salt. The thing with kosher salt is size of salt chrystals? Flavour?
I use Guerande-salt since kosher salt is not available in my part of the world.
Has kosher salt been blessed?
Kosher salt is less acrid and bitter than granulated table salt. If you take a taste of a few grains of kosher salt, then a few grains of granulated table salt, you'll taste the difference pretty quickly : )
What adds to (my) confusion is the word "kosher" I guess. With some effort I might be able to find kosher salt but it would be around 20 dollars which feels like alot for salt.
Following a head injury last year my sense of taste has been altered to only really being able to taste salt and sweet properly so salt has taken on a new meaning.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Thanks for your response David. I see that you are a true Eco Warrior! A lot of us are doing what we can do to help save the planet. - and none of us are perfect in this world where 90% of what we buy is packaged in plastic. You have such a wide audience - I love that you talk about how you reuse bags at the market. So many people are so used to everything being super convenient and disposable, so I think the more we talk about alternatives and the reasons for them, the better. And you've got a great platform for that! I think you should talk more about all the great ways you are being eco-friendly and not polluting. - by recycling, reusing - and giving up toilet paper! Again - I love your work - you brighten my day. Thank you for all you do. - JoAnne
I started using reusable light-weight cloth bags to store veggies in the fridge. Now, I am going to sew up a slew of them for holiday gifts. Go eco!
What's that about the TP?
Hi David - I love your newsletter, books, recipes and I follow you on Instagram. I love that you bring your bags to the market! I’m a big promoter of reducing plastic in our lives. So I implore you to please find an alternative to plastic wrap (you mentioned bringing something back from the US, can’t remember the name, something like “stretch-tite”). There are many alternatives available now. Please use them! Respectfully, your fan - JoAnne in Albany, CA
One thing we've done is give up toilet paper which is super wasteful and really bad for the planet: https://www.fastcompany.com/90677480/toilet-paper-really-is-terrible-for-the-planet-heres-what-you-can-do-about-it
That's something people don't talk much about but it's something that's easy to change and is actually more hygienic, too! : )
I literally go through less than one roll of plastic wrap a year and reuse it - I also don't drive a car, and am a fervent composter and recycler, and I eat less seafood now (I mostly eat sardines and mackerel), since that's also a major source of plastic waste (about half the plastic in the ocean are discarded fishing nets from commercial fishing): https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/latest-news/marine-debris-plastic-fishing-gear/
But yes, all these things are good to be mindful of : )
Giving up tp? I use a bidet rinsing system, but still need some tp at times. Then there's the drying to be done after rinsing. My system does not have a blow dryer, so I use small washable cloths.
Cracks me up when you talk about the French re: spicy foods. We were in San Sebastián in January and popped over Espelette one day. It's a charming itty bitty town, and we picked up lots of pepper products to take home! Thanks for the recipe, and good luck with the address change!
French people tend to use herbs whereas other cultures are more prone to uses spices. To some, they think the spices hide the flavors of the ingredients, such as adding a lot of cinnamon to apple desserts (there's a French Apple Cake recipe on my blog and Americans have a hard time not adding cinnamon to it - I tell them they certainly can, but then it wouldn't be "French" 😉) But as an Indian friend who lives in France and writes about Indian food, told me sometimes people don't understand that the spices are part of the flavors. They're not meant to hide anything but are integral to the flavor.
There's no right or wrong, of course, but it is a cultural difference!
I recently took advantage of an offer for a free bag of Colima sea salt, thinking, well it's salt and if it's not awesome at least I only paid shipping... I've not really tried a lot of different salts but it is wonderful and after reading this post I thought you might be interested in it. I checked and the free bag offer is still on. (It's from Ava Jane's Kitchen.)
Just used your method and made some Szechuan peppercorn salt. Wonderful.
PS The Costco cutter can be removed after the roll is empty, and used on a different box.
I agree, this is a particularly easy process.
I like to make Rosemary salt using the same method. The best part is that it doesn’t need to be dried and keeps forever! Though, I manage to use it rather quickly when making rotisserie chicken.
Can you grow rosemary in your yard? It’s a nice looking shrub, that you can eat!😉
Hi David,
I just finished making your sage/rosemary/garlic salt. It is drying and I can hardly wait to use it! Thx!!
Herb salts are easy to make and keep forever. My favorite it basil salt. Use fresh leaves and it doesn't require drying. Just jar it up.
We have rosemary but it's not as prolific as the other herbs, namely sage and tarrage, which are explosive! If you like rosemary, this Tuscan Rub is very, very good: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/my-stash-1/
Thanks_David,
I will give that recipe a go. It sounds delicious!
Today I bought some dried red chile pods that I will use to make chile salt with Maldon sea flakes.
Lovely writing style, interesting recipe and a fun fact! ✔️➕