Page C2, Wednesday, October 27, 2010 Carroll County Times

LIFE & TIMES

Mayonnaise
lightens dishes
A few months ago, while
waiting in the deli line at
Shoppers, I noticed a dis-
play of condiments: sauces,
mustards and flavored
mayonnaises. One jar in
particular had a deep pink
color, and it turned out to
be a cranberry-horseradish
mayonnaise.
Since I like to lighten-up
many recipes, I decided to
make the mayo myself,
using light mayo, horserad-
ish and very finely
chopped Craisins (dried,
sweetened cranberries). It
tasted great, but then I
started to think about mak-
ing a spread for wraps, so I
used an 8-ounce package
AP PHOTO of light cream cheese,
about ½ cup of finely
Chevre with Cyprus black flake sea salt and cacao nibs is shown Oct. 5. Mark Bitterman, author of the chopped Craisins and
new cookbook “Salted,” does not take salting lightly and shows it with this recipe. about cup of walnuts that
Karen Silvermann
Coupon Corner
name of the hotel or resort.
There’s not necessarily a
guarantee if nothing shows
up, but if there is a prob-
lem, you can stay at an-
other place.
I checked out a resort re-
cently and felt better
knowing nothing had been
reported, but I’m still going
to do a thorough inspec-
tion of the unit when I get
there.
The best article on bed-
bugs I’ve seen anywhere
was by Andrea Sachs in
The Washington Post Oct.
10. She gives tips on what
to do before and after your
trip. She tells how to check

Serious flavor
Writer uses book to change the way Americans think about salt
BY MICHELE KAYAL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Salting as a deliberate act.
Sounds a bit intense. And
for Mark Bitterman, it is. It’s
a call to action, a plan to
banish bland food.
“Think about salting as a
deliberate act,” says Bitter-
man, author of “Salted,” a
312- page devotional to salt.
“This isn’t about being a
fancy chef. It’s about how to
make every single food you
eat in your daily life come
alive.”
Because, truth is, salt has
a powerful effect on food.
And just a little bit goes a
long way. Most importantly,
salt added at the stove or
table isn’t what worries
health officials. That would
be the salt added to
processed food.
So salt on. And here’s Bit-
terman’s tips to help you
sort through the maze of
salts that crowd the market.
Salts vary in moisture,
mineral content and the
size and structure of their
crystals, Bitterman says.
Moisture dictates “mouth
feel,” while mineral content
will play up or tone down a
food’s intrinsic qualities,
such as fruitiness. Crystal
size creates different sensa-
tions on the tongue.
For example, a salt with a
broad, flat flake — say a
Maldon sea salt — will offer
“an electrical pop of salt” or
even “a kapow,” he says,
while the moisture- filled
micro- grains of a French
fleur de sel will create “a
pliant, supple feeling” on
the tongue.
Using the language of
wine, Bitterman talks about
salts that are “unctuous,”
that impart “spiciness” or
“butteriness.” He refers to a
salt’s “meroir,” the qualities
it derives from its ocean,
and calls himself as a
“semelier.”
And he’s on a mission to
change the way Americans
think about — and use —
salt. First, he says, get over
the idea that salt is “cheap.”
“A box will last a year, so if
it costs $5 or $15 it doesn’t
matter,” he says.
Next, get in touch with
your palate. If you like bold-
ness, go with flaky salt. If
you like subtlety, go with
fleur de sel. But also know
that not only does each salt
taste differently, they must
be stored differently, too.
Flaky salt can be kept on the
table in a simple dish; fleur
de sel should be stored in an
airtight container.
Bitterman also believes
kosher salt is too refined to
be tasty.
For an all-around cooking
salt, use sel gris instead, he
advises, a large- grain, rela-
tively inexpensive salt full
of character- giving miner-
als.
Chevre with Cyprus
black flake sea salt and
cacao nibs
1 cup unsweetened
cacao nibs
8-ounce log chevre
(fresh goat cheese)
Two 3-finger pinches of
Cyprus black flake sea salt
1 baguette
On a sheet of foil, spread
the cacao nibs in a single
layer. Roll the log of goat
cheese carefully in the
nibs so the cheese doesn’t
stick to your fingers. Once
the cheese is well coated,
roll the log with a little
more pressure to embed
the nibs into the cheese.
Place the cheese on a
serving plate.
Sprinkle the cheese with
the salt, allowing the crys-
tals to tumble across the
plate.
Cut the baguette into
thin slices and arrange
them around the cheese
log or place them in a bas-
ket to serve alongside.
Start to finish: 10 min-
utes
Servings: 8
were so finely processed
they resembled a nut meal.
Eventually, I used more
cranberries and walnuts in
each successive batch, until
I’d almost doubled the
amounts.
This mixture works es-
pecially well when spread
on wraps with turkey
breast. You can use more
or less Craisins and wal-
nuts according to your
taste, but I’ve found it’s
best to process the Craisins
and walnuts together, be-
cause when processing the
Craisins alone, they’re hard
to get out of the food
processor.
Since this spread isn’t
cooked, you can use regu-
lar, light or fat-free cream
cheese. It can be altered
slightly for other dishes,
too. If you thin it with a lit-
tle milk, it can be used as a
dip for fruit or cookies.
Thin it more to use as a
dressing for fruit salad.
Bedbugs
Bedbugs have become a
huge problem, and since
they don’t discriminate,
they can be anywhere. But
now travelers can find out
if a problem has been re-
ported at a hotel or resort
before they make reserva-
tions.
Visit bedbugregistry.com
and give the city, state and
for bedbugs at the hotel,
what supplies you may
need if you have bedbugs,
where to find them and
more. It’s a long, but excel-
lent read. In fact, it could
save you thousands of dol-
lars, not to mention a very
stressful ordeal.
Sachs also lists a website,
washingtonpost.com/travel,
to see a video demonstra-
tion of a bedbug inspec-
tion.
White pepper
White pepper is some-
thing I use in a lot of
dishes. When we go to the
U.K., it’s very inexpensive.
It costs about $2 to $3 a jar,
which is saying something,
considering how much
more things cost in Europe.
So, I always tuck a few bot-
tles into my suitcase.
Here, however, you can
expect to pay about $6 to
$7 per small, name-brand
bottle, but not any longer.
Go to Weis’ international
aisles and you’ll find Badia
spices in the Hispanic sec-
tion. A two-ounce jar of
Badia ground white pepper
sells for a mere $1.99.
Karen Silverman lives in
Eldersburg and can be
reached at kizsk@verizon
.net.

“H o n o rin g O u r F re e d o m P ro te cto rs ” F ill those

H O N O R Y O U R VE TE RAN
Rememberthose who are currentlyservi ng and those who have
shoes fa s ter.
served byplacing thei
rphotograph on ourspeci alVeteran’
sDay
pages,to appeari
n the CarrollCountyTi meson
V e te ra n ’s D a y,T h u rs d a y,N o ve m b e r 11th

A
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S gt. F rederick
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