Salt Block Cooking: 70 Recipes for Grilling, Chilling, Searing, and Serving on Himalayan Salt Blocks

  • Salt-chopped tenderloin tartare with quick-cured vegetable pickles

    Salt-chopped tenderloin tartare with quick-cured vegetable pickles

    from Salt Block Cooking: 70 Recipes for Grilling, Chilling, Searing, and Serving on Himalayan Salt Blocks Salt Block Cooking by Mark Bitterman

    • Categories: Chutneys, pickles & relishes; Appetizers / starters; Main course
    • Ingredients: Himalayan pink salt block; beef tenderloin; Worcestershire sauce; egg yolks; canned anchovies; capers; red onions; chives; bread of your choice; sea salt flakes; apple cider vinegar; fresh ginger; coriander seeds; vegetables of your choice
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Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Watermelon and feta on a salt block

    • mjes on May 25, 2018

      This recipe is common - watermelon, feta, mint. The feta reminds me of my Father sprinkling salt on his watermelon. It is the presentation on a salt block that makes this an interesting recipe giving a bit of the salted watermelon flavor of preceding generations.

  • Salt block cucumber salad

    • pandaPowder on January 12, 2014

      very delicious. we loved it. use for a few days afterward. put on bread with goat cheese

    • bching on August 23, 2014

      easy and delicious. Cucumbers retain crisp texture.

  • Salt-cured candied strawberries

    • pandaPowder on February 26, 2014

      I made this last week and they were fantastic. The strawberries I used definitely took about 3 hours to cure. They would be good as a garnish to just about any dessert. My kids couldn't get enough of them.

  • Preserved savage mushrooms

    • pandaPowder on February 03, 2014

      I accidentally added the lime juice before curing these, but they still seemed to turn out awesome. I threw them on my spaghetti and ate them with bread.

  • Salt block preserved lemon slices

    • pandaPowder on March 24, 2014

      I used them in a couscous recipe and they were really good. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/pine-nut-and-preserved-lemon-couscous-recipe.html I preferred adding more lemons than the recipe called for. I can't wait to try it out in other things.

  • Salt block smashed potatoes

    • pandaPowder on January 27, 2014

      this was really delicious. The potatoes were perfectly seasoned but not too salty. I liked this recipe because it was a bit simpler and didn't require actual cooking on the salt block. I barely heated my salt block before mashing and then microwaved the potatoes afterwards. I'm sure it would be better to have the warm block but it wasn't essential.

  • Salt block seared kobe beef with tarragon-shallot butter

    • pandaPowder on February 03, 2014

      I used filet mignon and I over cooked it a bit due to a crying baby. However, despite being more medium-rare than rare, they were still very tender and yummy. Salty is good when it comes to steak I think. The tarragon shallot butter was divine.

  • Salt crust scallops with Thai lime dipping sauce

    • pandaPowder on January 16, 2014

      this was very good. The sauce made the whole thing better. I still need to try and do something with the sauce. I didn't quite get the crust I wanted. Perhaps the block was not hot enough.

  • Salt block rosemary potato chips

    • pandaPowder on January 27, 2014

      this was kind of a lot of work but they were really good. I thought I made too many but it turned out we didn't have enough. A bit of a mess if a chip fell off the block and then got burned onto the stovetop. I did about as thin as I could go without them collapsing like paper and it was still pretty thin because they thin out while cooking.

  • Salt block asparagus rolled in pancetta with mostarda dipping sauce

    • pandaPowder on March 24, 2014

      I felt like the pancetta was already salty enough, so I didn't see the point of cooking on the salt block here. My vegetarian wife, who didn't eat the pancetta of course, thought that the asparagus was really good. I'm not sure if that was because of the salt block or the fact that she got some of the bacon flavor! haha! Next time I think I'll just do the asparagus. I'm not sure if I can count this one towards my goal because I didn't make the home made mustard.

  • Salt-seared sweet potato pancakes with hot pepper honey

    • pandaPowder on February 03, 2014

      these were really tasty. We had them with wiener schnitzel. My son ate a bunch of them with blackberry jam. I preferred the hot pepper honey.

  • Salt-seared pineapple steaks with curried agave drizzle

    • pandaPowder on March 03, 2014

      I used rootbeer in place of the rum. I think it would be good on or off the salt block. I over cooked my drizzle just a tad and it was more of a caramel when at room temperature but it still worked when rubbed on the pineapple..

  • Salt-baked rustic apple-onion tart with blue cheese

    • pandaPowder on March 24, 2014

      also one of my favorite recipes I've made on the salt block. I would make it again. Add more blue cheese. I don't think the salt block actually made the crust any saltier.

  • Salt block baked pretzel rolls with mustard butter

    • pandaPowder on March 24, 2014

      one of my favorites! Not as hard as I expected.

  • Gold-crusted salty chocolate curls

    • pandaPowder on February 03, 2014

      we used tollhouse chocolate chips and curled them off the block with a cheese grater. We sprinkled the curls on pudding and it was very good. I liked the smoked salt.

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  • ISBN 10 1449435939
  • ISBN 13 9781449435936
  • Published May 28 2013
  • Format eBook
  • Page Count 224
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Andrews McMeel Publishing
  • Imprint Andrews McMeel Publishing

Publishers Text

A precious pink mineral mined from ancient hills in Pakistan’s Punjab province has arrived on the American cooking scene as an exciting and enticing new form of cooking.  Himalayan salt blocks, for years the stuff of Iron Chef panache, are today available at specialty retail stores around the world. And the market is growing. This is the first book to address this subject, along with 70 recipes designed for using this unique cooking tool.

Salt blocks are a big deal, and they are getting bigger.  They bring an otherworldly beauty to the kitchen. Luminous crystals shot through with hues of rose, garnet and ice offer a template for preparing food that is as arrestingly visual as it it tantalizingly beautiful. Salt expert, Mark Bitterman outlines the ancient practice of cooking on salt blocks, while providing simple, modern recipes. The introduction provides a thorough manual on everything you need to know to buy, use, heat, maintain, and clean salt blocks with confidence. 70 recipes are divided by 5 techniques: Serving, Curing, Warming, Cooking, and Chilling. Salt blocks are not only beautiful, but will appeal to people interested in grilling, baking, general cooking, curing, and notably, entertaining.

About 500,000 salt blocks come into the country every year. Author Mark Bitterman's company, The Meadow, sells over 70,000 blocks per year.  Some are sold in bulk to hospitality businesses, but most are going directly to consumers. Here is the first book to comprehensively describe and photographically show how to use these blocks.