Salted_ A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, With Recipes - Mark Bitterman [127]
Have ready a baking dish just large enough to hold the steak. Press the sel gris between your fingers. It should be moist enough to stick together. If it isn’t, stir in a few tablespoons of water until the salt is moist enough to cling together when firmly pressed.
Spread the sel gris ½ inch thick in the baking dish. Scatter half the rosemary leaves over the salt. Place the steak on top and scatter the remaining rosemary leaves over the steak. Pack the salt around the steak until it is completely encased. Bake for 30 minutes for rare, or 40 minutes for medium-rare.
While the steak is roasting, make the herb butter. Mash together the butter, garlic, and herbs in a small bowl with a fork until well blended. Gently stir in the fleur de sel, trying to keep the salt crystals as intact as possible. Set aside.
Remove the beef from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Break the salt crust, brush off any excessive salt adhering to the steak, and remove to a cutting board. Cut into thick slices, arrange three or four slices on each plate, and serve with a generous ball of herbed butter.
COOKING ON SALT BLOCKS
For me, habit is just a synonym for death —Juliet Binoche
Everyone knows about salt on food, but what about food on salt? Massive, candy-pink slabs of Himalayan salt offer a whole new medium on which to prepare and serve food. Arranging slices of green apple, pear, and mozzarella on a platter of Himalayan salt will season all three to perfection. Slice salmon sashimi on a salt slab and watch the fish grow pale and firm, gently curing at the table before you eat it. Thick blocks of Himalayan salt can be heated on the stove to temperatures in excess of 600 degrees to sear sea scallops, flank steak, or duck breast. At the other temperature extreme, you can freeze the block to zero and whip up a lightly salted frozen custard on it.
When you cook on Himalayan block salt, several things are happening at the same time: the heat of the block sears and browns proteins, melts fats, and caramelizes sugars, while the salt subtly dehydrates the surface and seasons the food. Together the heat and salt work in wonderful harmony, producing unique salty-toasty-caramelized flavors and delicately crisped surfaces as thin as a single layer of glaze on porcelain.
When food is cooked on Himalayan salt blocks, moisture from the food dissolves the salt in the block, which can then transmit too much salt to whatever you are cooking. For that reason, it is important to get the block hot enough that it immediately evaporates any moisture coming from an ingredient.
The presence or addition of fat is another consideration. Salt isn’t fat soluble, so if you cook a very fatty food (such as duck breast) on salt, or put oil on the block while cooking a food that is moist but not fatty (such as summer squash), there will be less interaction between the salt and the food.
Perhaps the most challenging part of cooking on Himalayan salt blocks is heating them. As far as cooking surfaces go, salt is relatively soft. As it heats, it will naturally develop cracks and crevices. Over time, these will grow until eventually your salt block breaks. Just how long a salt block will last depends on the natural flaws in the block, how evenly you heat it, what you cook on it, and how carefully you clean it. The basic rule is: the slower you heat it, the longer it will last. Preheat the block slowly at very low heat for fifteen minutes, then allow at least 30 minutes to heat your salt block at medium to high heat to the desired cooking temperature.
An unoiled salt block gives very few visual clues as to its temperature, though it will tend to whiten a little as it nears 500°F or so. However, as with any pan, you can tell the approximate heat by holding your hand about three inches away. If the heat feels uncomfortably intense, the block is ready. If it just feels nice and warm, it’s not hot enough. No matter how tempting, do not touch a salt block that’s heating or cooling. Wait until you know the block is at or near room temperature.