Menus, March 18,2014

“Those who don't learn from history 
are doomed to repeat it.” 

Edmund Burke

The thing is, sometimes what you learn from history is so pleasant that it bears repeating- for instance-

once you learn how good one cookie is,
you keep wanting to repeat the lesson, don't you?

For the next two weeks, I'll be delving into dinner history, reworking and retrying menus from last spring and summer, while I devote some concentrated time to a few writing projects that are just nearly as much fun as this little blog- 

let's start with the post that introduced me to what has become my go-to way to cook chicken breast, the glorious, ever-reliable honey and salt brine.

Happy history, from March 2013-

I love you like meat loves salt.

folktale type 923

Cozy up and pour yourself a warm beverage- I have an old and unoriginal story to tell you. A story so old, so unoriginal, that it has it's own section in the codex of  fairytales and folklore. A story so old and unoriginal that if I only knew how, I could tell it as it was told in old English, Shakespearean English, German, French, Italian, the languages of ancient India and Pakistan....I could even tell as it's been told on the breezy porches of Appalachia a century ago.....

Once upon a time, there was a king who was flattered and coddled for so long that he became stupid and foolish

as evidenced in part by his tolerance of  the royal barber's
practice of  the "courtier cut".
.

One Saturday (Saturday being the day his ego most often needed reinflating) he gathered his lovely daughters to his side, and in front of an audience, asked each one to tell him how much they loved him.
The two eldest heaped the praised high and deep- each loving him more than the other until the king their father was loved more than air or water or wealth or their even own husbands.

and the crowd went wild.
No, really-  people love emotional overload.

Then came the turn of the king's youngest daughter,

a slightly more thoughtful sort.

"Father", she said simply, "I love you as meat loves salt".
A statement so honest simple that it took everyone by surprise, and disappointed her father the king, who preferred his lovin' on the flashy flowery side.
No, she did not love him more than life, or more than her husband; she loved him exactly as a daughter ought to love a father. 

It was a statement for which she was banished from her father's sight and kingdom.

Because contrary to popular opinion,
honesty is a rather dicey policy.

Not to worry- although in Shakespeare's King Lear the whole mess ends badly, in most versions our young heroine sneaks into the castle's kitchen on the night of a great feast and persuades the cook to prepare the entire meal without salt. In a flash of rare and remorseful insight the king realizes the depth of his daughter's love and, well...

hugs and happiness ensue

 I heard a version of this story for the first time back when the earth was cooling, and this-

was fancy salt.
(it was fancy because it wasn't the store brand)

  But now! well! First came this prezzie, all the way from Denver CO:

A gift that smells and tastes so yummy- but how best to use it?

And what's up with all the different salts available now? 

These and other questions sent me to the information streams of the internet, and the nearest Central Market. I gathered more questions from the internet, and from the market, I gathered these:

And I set myself to learn the  differences between finishing salt, brining salt, kosher salt.....I want to taste it all

So I did what any curious salt and carb loving woman would do. I started a Buffy marathon, popped a pot of popcorn, and didn't stop munching till I'd tried all the salts.

The things I do in my relentless pursuit of knowledge.
Remarkable.

You can learn more than I could ever tell you about salts from these articles at Food 52, Real Simple and Rachael Ray. Or, you could combine your love of history with your passion for food and read this uber interesting looking book about the way salt has shaped the world we live in. Me? 

I can tell you that a pinch of smoked salt on an omelette or a sandwich boosts it into realms of stratospheric awesomeness, and that fluer de sel has the punchiest taste and the the most wonderful texture of all the salts that I tried. And I can also tell you that dinner this week is not for those under rigid sodium restrictions, because I'm playing in the kitchen with my new best friend, salt.

Wednesday:Honey Brined Chicken breast

Once the chicken breasts are brined, I'll pound them and pan fry them in a little olive oil. I'll be pan roasting a few beets that are in the fridge,  and warming up some lefover Cheesy Polenta. I'll be making enough chicken for a stir fry on Saturday.

Thursday:Salted beef tenderloin and salted baked potatoes

Alton Brown, I'm putting several dollars worth of beef, some time, my blood pressure and dinner into your capable hands. If you say it's good, I'm ready to believe you. I'll be using the leftovers later for beef burritos

The internet loves these baked potatoes! I'll be sure to update you on whether or not they're worth the extra step.

Friday:chicken and asparagus stir fry
I'll use the chicken leftover from Wednesday here, along with some
asparagus that's on sale at Kroger (asparagus is on sale pretty much everywhere right now). I know that cashews are an expensive addition, but I super duper love them in stirfrys, so I'm doin' it.








Saturday: Whole fish baked in a salt crust 
always a chance here that I may find a new way to like fish. Hope so! Depending on how cold it is outside, I'll either put this together with a box of grape tomatoes pan roasted in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or a simple salad.

Sunday: Beef Fajitas and salsa
 I'm jonesing a little for the salsa at Tin Star, so I may try this recipe with any leftover tomatoes from last night. And I'll probably stir up a little Rodrigo style sauce too.










You've realized what the king realized, haven't you, on the night of the tasteless feast? That in seven simple words, his daughter had told her father that she savored her life more because of he was a part of it.
I wonder what it is that you love the way that meat loves salt.
What it is that adds flavor and zest and color to your life.
Maybe that stack of books by your bed.
Maybe the that puppy that spins in happy circles every time you come home.
Maybe (if you're lucky) there are a few people on that list too
And I hope that this week you get a moment or two to gaze quietly at those who are near and hold clearly in your imagination those who are far and think about how flavorless your life would be without them.
I hope you have a moment to think about the laughter and wonder  and astonishment with which they season your days.
And I hope that you can hug them close, and smile into their eyes as they smile into yours and hear yourself saying

i love ya like salt.
And i hope you hear it back.