Fleur de Sel - Where To Buy The Best Sea Salt?

Greetings and Happy Saturday from Florida Herb House!



Today lets travel to the French coast to get a mouth full of Fleur de Sel, a truly exquisite natural sea salt made exclusively in France. To sample the finest French sea salts your dollar can buy please drop by and say hi or visit us online at www.FloridaHerbHouse.com or www.SharpWebLabs.com!

"Incroyable!", "Fabuleux!", "Spectaculaire!" these may be some of the words you hear when someone feeds on a meal topped with Fleur de Sel sea salt. Whether you are a health nut or a food lover the French have mastered the production of this fine French Sea Salt!


Fleur de Sel which translates into "Flower Of Salt" is produced in France on ocean surfaces near salt marshes. The one thing that is so appealing about this great salt is its appearance and downright "sensaltional" crunch!

Fleur de Sel is harvested using somewhat primitive wooden tools and is unrefined from the salt pond to your spice cabinet. This premium unrefined salt is white in color and semi-translucent. It is mineral rich with potassium, magnesium, iron, and zinc and retains a earth slightly sweet taste. Fleur de Sel is an ideal sea salt for seasoning meats, poultry, veggies, fish, and a host of other dishes.

Try some fresh steamed vegetables with a slab of butter and Fleur De Sel sprinkled on top! Our Florida Herb House favorite all time use for Fleur de Sel is to cook a whole chicken or turkey in the oven completely layered with this salt. The salt not only protects the flavor and juices from escaping but also adds an amazing touch of its own flavor. We rub the salt off after the bird is cooked and the slices of meat are tender, juicy, and most flavorful always. Try some Fleur de Sel sea salt in your next recipe!

Below is our two all time favorite recipes incorporating
our Fleur de Sel sea salt!

Potatoes With Fleur de Sel:
Serves 4


Ingredients:

7 tablespoons unsalted butter


6 tablespoons grapeseed oil


2 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces


1 whole chicken 2-3 Lbs., wings removed


Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


1 chicken liver


4 sprigs fresh rosemary


4 sprigs fresh thyme


1 head garlic, halved crosswise


Florida Herb House's Fleur de sel, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Butter a medium roasting pan with 3 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons oil. Place potatoes in a single layer in roasting pan. Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Place liver, rosemary, thyme, and garlic inside cavity of chicken; using kitchen twine, tie legs together to enclose. Rub chicken with remaining 3 tablespoons each of butter and oil. Place chicken on top of potatoes on one of its sides.


Transfer roasting pan to oven and roast for 20 minutes. Turn chicken onto its other side and continue roasting 20 minutes more. Turn chicken, breast side up, and add 2 tablespoons water to pan; continue roasting until juices run clear and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 10 to 20 minutes more.

Carve chicken in roasting pan allowing the juices to combine with the potatoes. Serve from the roasting pan, spooning pan juices over potatoes. Sprinkle with fleur de sel from Florida Herb House.

Fillet Of Sole with Fleur de Sel:
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 15 minutes out of the fridge


3 tablespoons medium chopped fresh herbs, such as tarragon, parsley, dill, thyme, sage, chervil, savory, and/or rosemary


Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon


4 sole fillets, about 6 ounces each


Coarsely ground mixed peppercorns


2 tablespoons olive oil


4 two-finger pinches Florida Herb House's fleur de sel


Directions:

Blend the butter, herbs and lemon zest together. Gently roll into a cylinder about the size of your thumb and cut into 4 disks, set aside.

Pat the sole fillets dry with a paper towel and season with pepper.
Put 2 large skillets over high heat until very hot. Add a tablespoon of oil to each skillet and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Put 2 fillets in each pan, whiter side down and saute until the edges of the fillets are opaque, about 2 minutes. Turn carefully and cook on the other side until the surface is dry but the flesh is still moist in the center, about 2 more minutes. Transfer to plates.

Remove the pans from the heat and glaze with the lemon juice. Pour over the fish. Top each fish fillet with a pad of herb butter and season with a pinch or two of Florida Herb House "Fleur de Sel". Garnish with more herbs and lemon zest, if you want. Serve right away!









Have a sea salty day!


Stephen Sharp


Florida Herb House

Quick Guide To Buying Sea Salts

Welcome all sea salt lovers and chefs alike! Stephen Sharp founder and CEO of Florida Herb House is here to share his expertise on getting to know the basic varieties of sea salt. Florida Herb House is a leading retailer of over 100 all natural and organic sea salts. These salts are used for decorating, finishing, and flavoring various culinary dishes as well as setting up for a truly envigorating night time bath. Now let's join Stephen as he takes us on a tour of the wonderful world of sea salts.

"Sea salt, sea salt, by the sea shore." Not only is that a tongue twister but it is a fact. Yes sea salt is just that, salt harvested from the sea. So what's the big hype about this right? Table salt is the same right? NO!!! Table salt for one is derived from underground salt mines. It is then refined and blended with calcium silicate which is an anti-caking agent.

Sea salt is harvested from evaporated seawater and receives little or no processing, leaving intact the minerals from the water it came from. These minerals flavor and color the salt slightly. However, because these salts are usually expensive, it is worth keeping in mind that they lose their unique flavor when cooked and this is why top chefs add their choice of sea salt (depending on the recipe) usually towards the end of the cooking process.

Stephen also states, "All of our sea salts with the exception of our smoked salts are certified Kosher. This is a huge selling point to all our customers and I think that is why we are a top retailer of sea salt. Kosher salt takes its name from its use in the koshering process. It contains no preservatives and can be derived from either seawater or underground sources. Aside from being a great salt to keep within arm's reach when you are cooking, it is particularly useful in preserving, because its large crystals draw moisture out of meats and other foods more effectively than other salts."

Basically there a five groups of sea salt. These are the finishing, cooking, grinder and mill, smoked, and bath salts. Visit us online at http://www.sharpweblabs.com/ or http://www.floridaherbhouse.com/ to see all of our available sea salts.

Finishing sea salts are just that, they are premium high end specialty salts. They are harvested mostly by hand from exotic locations around the globe and are known for their unique textures. The various finishing salt textures provide a strong crunch and dissolve quickly, giving you a burst of clean, mild salty flavor with each bite. These salts bring out the depth of natural flavors of any dish, and also add to a beautiful tableside presentation. The various colors and flakes of finishing salts make gorgeous garnishes for every meal. Our best selling finishing sea salt is the Cyprus Flake and the Cyprus Black Lava salt.

Cooking sea salts are similar to finishing sea salts but are more resilient with regard to losing their flavor while being heated. A great choice for a truly spectacular cooking sea salt is our Fleur De Sel or Sel Gris salt.

Grinder and mill sea salts are the coarser variety of salt that is perfect for your favorite salt mill. Our favorite salt for a salt mill is the Alea Hawaiian or Black Hawaiian salt.

Smoked sea salts are a special treat. When you are considering a smoked sea salt, make sure that it is a naturally smoked salt, and hasn’t just had liquid smoke flavoring added as this can create a bitter taste. Stephen states "All of our smoked sea salts are smoked over real wood fires which gives the salt crystals a true natural smoked flavor. These salts are great on chicken, fish, and salads or any roast. Our most popular smoked sea salts are the Bali Smoked, and Dulse Applewood salts. Oh yeah we also have a full line of naturally flavored Fusion Sea Salts which are truly great."

Bath salts make an ordinary bath feel more like a spa in many ways. When people think bath salt they usually think of "Dead Sea Salt", "Pink Himalayan", or the standard Epsom Salt. Funny though Epsom Salt is not a true salt but a mixture of natural magnesium and sulfate that comes from a pure spring in Epsom, England. Whatever your choice a hot bath with your favorite bath salt is very soothing and relaxing.

Cooking with different types of sea salt and expermimenting on various dishes is not only fun but healthy! Have a happy and healthy day!!

Special thanks to:

Stephen Sharp
www.FloridaHerbHouse.com
www.SharpWebLabs.com