Sriracha Infused Salt

   Serendipity happened last week,  I received my March, 2017 Cook's Illustrated Magazine right at the time the the next 2017 Food Mastery Monthly Challenge #fijchallenge was kicking off for February.  The challenge this month was to learn and try something new with an infused salt or salt preserving.  Cook's Magazine had a great little article on creating infused salts quickly and easily with your microwave! How easy could that be!?  I decided to take some fancy  black lava 'finishing salt' I was gifted and infuse some sriracha sauce into it. This will be great on roasted vegetables, potatoes (even french fries), salting the rims of drinks like margaritas and bloody mary drinks, even on a steak fresh off the grill.  This salt adds a little zip to your taste buds.  As my husband noted upon the 'taste test' - "its a sloooow burn, but, really great!"   The only point I'd like to mention is that I infused black lava salt which does leave a black film on hot foods. (meaning its not something added to a soup unless you want your soup gray/blackened) If using as a salt other then finishing off a dish, then I say to use kosher salt or pink salt (as they won't stain your foods so to speak)  You can also use a spice grinder to reduce your large salt crystals into finer salt if that is preferred. I suggest doing that once the infused salt has dried out completely.  As well, make sure to cover your salt in the dish/tray that you place into the microwave with a paper towel as there will be a small spray (fine mist) that will expel from salt as its cooking. I'm sure I only noticed this because I was using black lava salt. (at least now my microwave is even cleaner then I started with LOL - was not a pretty sight when opening the door to stir the salt after the first cook time) 
 Enjoy! Diane 


Sriracha Infused (Flavored) Salt 

Ingredients: 
1/2 Cup Kosher salt  
1/3 Cup Sriracha Sauce 

large microwave safe plate
microwave oven

Directions: 

Mix the salt and sauce in a small bowl, then spread out onto large microwave safe plate. Microwave stirring every 60 seconds, until the mixture is only slightly damp. (total cook time approx 6-8 minutes) If the salt gets too hot, let it cool before proceeding so that your don't burn it. Take plate out of microwave and stir, let air dry for at least 1 hour.  Place a paper towel over plate and blot salt to ensure it is no longer damp.  At this point,  I left the paper towel in place used the back of a spoon to crush the salt a bit more, breaking up any clumps.  I left my finished infused salt to completely dry out overnight on a clean plate before storing. 


Recipe by: Cook's Illustrated
Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home