Ruhlman and many others he consulted from the cooking world feel salting, perfect salting, is the sign of a “real” chef.  As I aspire to be a good cook, it seems this would be a skill I could and should develop.  I have been using fine sea salt in a little Tuscan-style bowl that my husband bought me on our 10th Anniversary trip to France.  I loved the pottery stores in the south of France but only brought home this one little piece to remind me of a trip of a lifetime.  

That said, I still seem to under salt our food, painfully worried about heart disease to the point of a bit of paranoia.  I sprinkle from the container sometimes and pinch from the bowl other times, with no rhythm or reason to my method.  If my hands are wet or dirty, I grab a paper towel and use the shaker.  I guess I am going to work on correcting that with these tips of the trade:

• Use coarse Kosher salt – Diamond Crystal brand or Morton’s kosher salt.  Why? You will have more control using your fingers – do not shake salt on.
• Salt to taste, which means you should be tasting your food as you cook it.
• Measurement is a suggestion of where to start in a recipe.  Salt a bit at a time, taste and add more as you go.
• Experiment by picking up salt with your fingers and measuring how much you pick up with your thumb and 2 fingers, then your thumb and 3 fingers, etc.  This is to help you understand how much you pinch so that you can do it without having to measure the amount.  See how many fingers it takes to make a teaspoon.  Now you don’t need measuring spoons – okay, that is the theory.
• Salt early in making a dish, salt often and a little bit at a time to develop flavor.
• Salt meat as soon as you bring it home from the store – this applies to beef and pork.  I would avoid doing it to chicken.  Experiment by salting part of your meat and not salting the other part and compare how it looks before you cook it.  The salted meat should look preserved.
• Do not salt fish or use coarse salt on it.  This is a time to use the fine stuff.
• Cooking water for pasta, rice and grains should have a salt/water ratio of 2 Tbsp. per gallon.
• Cooking water for vegetables should have a salt/water ratio of 1 cup per gallon. (WOW! I will have to try this.  The idea being you do not have to salt the vegetables after cooking.)
• Salt does not dissolve in oil or fat.  I had no idea but I guess it makes sense!
• Brines – salt/water ratio is 2 Tbps. per 2 ½ cups of water, heat to dissolve salt, add flavors like herbs and spices, cook for 30 minutes on simmer.  Chill before using.  Let meat rest after taking it out of a brine.
• Brine fish for a short 10 minutes before cooking to prevent white albumen from coming out during cooking, another interesting fact I didn’t know.
• Over salted food? Best fix is to make more of a dish without salt and mix the two together OR add starch like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread or fat, like cream.
• Over brined? Soak the food in water for as long as you over brined it to draw out the salt.
• Lastly, instead of using salt, you can add salty things to dishes such as anchovies and fish sauce.

This is a lot of information to take in but I found it very enlightening.  I guess I will use up the salt in my special dish and then, put in some Morton’s I have on the shelf.  I will give the finger measuring a try and let you know how it goes.  

There are a few recipes in this chapter that I am excited to try – Lemon Confit, Sage-Garlic-Brined Pork Chops, and Raw Zucchini Salad.  I am skipping making my own bacon– because I get it from a local farmer and love it, salted caramel sauce– which I made the other day and cured salmon– which I do not like.