I was very lucky to win a Saltworks Limited Edition Fusion Salt Sampler.
Lynn Turner from Seasoned & Stirred Blog held the giveaway contest, and since then we have become blogger pals. It is amazing how the gift of gourmet food can bring people together.
Saltworks offers many varieties of superior quality sea salts from all over the world and boasts the largest selection of gourmet sea salts available.
Each of the “fusion” flavors I received came packed in a decorative shot glass sized jar topped with a hand-milled cork.
My sampler also included three small spoons and clear glass bowls. What a great gift, they are the perfect size for tasting the salts or to lay a little bit out for cooking…
These artisan salts should be savored, because a little bit goes a long way. INTENSE is the best word to describe them, a small sprinkle delivers a lot of flavor.
These are the all natural flavors I received:
- fusion Wild Porcini
-Mushroom salt is perfect for flavoring meats, salmon, soups, or risotto.
- fusion Black Truffle
-True truffle flavor intensified by sea salt which is simply yummy on eggs, potatoes, and popcorn.
- fusion Spanish Rosemary
-This “straight from the herb garden” sea salt can be added to just about any recipe to add fresh flavor.
- fusion Vintage Merlot
-The salt that started the fusion line, amazing Merlot flavor when sprinkled on anything.
- fusion Expresso Brava
-My fav of thie sampler. Robust and hearty, it can be used in savory and sweet dishes alike.
Fresh baked soft pretzels sounded perfect when sprinkled with the flavored salts…
…but I had never tried to make them from scratch.
I searched for recipes on Foodnetwork.com and quickly decided on Alton Brown’s Homemade Soft Pretzel recipe.
My nephew Kyle is visiting and he loves to cook with me (I call him “The Next Food Network Star in Training”).
We made our first batch of soft pretzels and used the flavored salts to season them.
Alton’s recipe was easy to follow and we were surprised by how well they turned out…
What a perfect way to savor the variety of sea salt flavors in my sampler. We gobbled them down quickly and decided to make another batch.
It was easy to get creative with the dough. We had a lot of fun making silly shaped pretzels including dog bones, funny faces, and pretzel wrapped hotdogs.
Kyle created a masterpiece by rolling out the dough and filling it with shredded cheese to make Pretzel Ravioli…
…which were quite tasty once they were boiled and baked.
Now I’m pleased to announce that Saltworks is sponsoring a gourmet giveaway.
A lucky reader will win the gift of exquisite smoked sea salts…
The Limited Edition Artisan Smoked Salt Sampler collection is a delicious way to introduce an assortment of all natural smoked sea salt to any meal. Created for the person who loves to grill and cannot get enough of that delicious “smoked” flavor in their food.
The Smoke set includes salts that are smoked with Hickory, Alderwood, Coconut Shells, Applewood and even Chardonnay oak wine barrel wood.
This set comes complete with five different smoked salts (approximately .5 to .6 ounces each) in mini glass jars with hand-milled cork tops, 3 stainless salt spoons, and 3 salt serving bowls for sampling & display.
The winner was randomly selected and announced on September 2, 2010. Congratulations to Forfengdesigns!
Eatnlisten.com email subscribers are eligible to win all giveaways.
If your not yet an email subscriber, register here…
*Activate your Eatnlisten.com subscription by replying to the Google Feedburner verification email. Subscriptions must be active at the time of the drawing for eligibility.
**Email subscribers will receive Eatnlisten.com food & entertainment articles, great giveaways, tasty recipes, and product reviews. You will not receive SPAM.
***Winners will be contacted via email, and must provide a valid shipping address within the continental United States (the prizes can be delivered as a gift to another person).
Good luck and thank you for reading my blog.
Thanks to the kind folks at Saltworks, I truly appreciate yor generosity and can’t wait to pass on some of my luck with the gift of your exceptional all natural sea salts.
Brad
That is so weird, I just saw a recipe for making pretzel covered hot dogs. My daughter and I were salivating over making the recipe, but it called for a kitchen mixer (Which I see you have in your photo). Do you think it would possible to make a pretzel dough without the mixer? Oh your son was genius with the pretzel ravioli. I think if I ever try this recipe (I really need a mixer) then I will try wrapping the pretzel dough around a string cheese stick. Yum!
Oh, beside my love for bacon, my first love is salt! Loved the review, and I never knew there were so many flavors of salt.
Hi Cheryl, I think you could make the dough wo a stand mixer if you are sure to mix it very well for several minutes by hand. It is not a sticky dough and should be easy enough to do wo the mixer. I liekyour idea of wrapping the dough around a cheese stick, sounds really tasty!
Thanks Brad,
I may just try it sometime next week with the sausages and the cheese sticks. I may even get creative and send you some photos.
I am a email subscriber. They look so good. I haven’t made pretzels in years. It looks like I am going to have to make some now.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
They were quite easy to make with Alton’s recipe, and the possibilities with the dough are endless. Thank you for subscribing!
Wow! …pretzel making is too intimidating for me. I’m a subscriber.
momgateway@gmail.com
Brad,
I forgot to write my email address: kaffirgirl@gmai.com
How exciting! I subscribed to your blog.
Thanks Kaffirgirl, I think this giveaway is very exciting too. Good luck!
I have never attempted pretzels, although I love them!! I also enjoy salt, and the smoked coconut shell has me very interested!
Thanks Holly, I agree the smokes coconut sounds very tasty. Godd luck!
Hi Brad, the smoked salt sampler looks amazing too. I chose the fusion sampler because I really wanted to try the Espresso Brava–which just happens to be my favorite too! Also, the folks at Saltworks are really awesome!! I can’t wait to try more of their salt flavors.
Thanks for the info on Alton’s pretzel recipe. I’ve never made pretzels but I’m excited to try.
[...] Saltworks Artisan Salt Sampler Giveaway & Alton Brown’s Homemade Soft Pretzels | Eatnlist… [...]
[...] Saltworks Artisan Salt Sampler Giveaway & Alton Brown’s Homemade Soft Pretzels | Eatnlist… [...]
[...] Saltworks Artisan Salt Sampler Giveaway & Alton Brown’s Homemade Soft Pretzels | Eatnlist… [...]
[...] Saltworks Artisan Salt Sampler Giveaway & Alton Brown’s Homemade Soft Pretzels | Eatnlist… [...]
[...] of the Saltworks Artisan Smoked Salt Sampler will also be announced in just a few [...]
I am loving the idea of making homemade pretzels to try out the salts. I have tried a couple of special salts but this sounds like a fabulous variety!
Thanks Carol, they were the perfect way to tast test the salts. Saltworks has the finest salts abd varieties in my opinion.
[...] Enter This Giveaway: http://www.eatnlisten.com/2010/08/04/saltworkgiveaway-pretzel/ [...]
Just added my email and signed up.
What’s a healthy foodie doing trying to win free salt, you ask? I’m thinking that gourmet, flavored salts will add more flavor than the lousy iodized stuff. More taste means less salt. Win-win!
I agree, natural salt id best when cooking, and Saltworks makes the best.
[...] I’m pleased to announce the winner of the Saltworks gourmet giveaway! [...]