Everyday Seasoning Salt from the Peasant Restaurants - IMPROVED VERSION


 

Rita Y

TVWBB Emerald Member
1/16/05: (Edited) Here is a big improvement to this seasoning - see the end of the recipe:

Someone asked for a simple seasoning salt. This is one I keep by my stove and use most of the time for everyday cooking. It's good on everything except maybe ice cream....but I haven't tried that yet.
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-- Rita

PLEASANT PEASANT RESTAURANTS’ SEASONING SALT

(Makes 1 1/2–1 2/3 cups seasoning, fills one 12-oz + one 8-oz canning jar)

1 part 1/4 cup 55 g sugar
2 parts 1/2 cup 55 g medium-grind black pepper
2 parts 1/2 cup 75 g granulated garlic
3 parts 3/4 cup 110 g Diamond Crystal Kosher salt

(Added 1/16/05) Here's a neat trick to help keep the ingedients evenly mixed: Add 1/8 teaspoon flavorless cooking oil to each 1/2 cup of the mix. You might need a pinch more oil, but start with the 1/8 teaspoon.
 
hey, i like that sugar addition! cool. We used to have a Pleasant Peasant here in the DC area, but I haven't heard of it for years.
 
It's surprising how a pinch of sugar can bring out flavors. Helps with browning too.

The Peasant chain was sold several years ago. They run the Mick's restaurants in Atlanta. Don't know if they're elsewhere. I loved the old recipe developers they had for years - very innovative. Seems like they went downhill after they changed regimes.
 
Rita,

I saw a story on "Unwrapped" on Food Network about a product called "Spepper" which is coarse salt and pepper glued together using a small amount of oil. This keeps the two dissimilar ingredients from separating in the shaker bottle, allowing you to apply both salt and pepper together from a single shaker.

I was wondering if the oil might go rancid after some period of time? If so, how long? Probably not an issue if you make small batches and use them quickly, I guess.

Regards,
Chris
 
If you notice, the McCormick Montreal seasoning blends use this trick to keep the various ingredients intermixed.
 
I've seen oil used in other spices/spice blends as well.

Many years ago I worked in the animal feed industry for a time running a 2 ton mixer. We used oil as well as molasses in vitamin/mineral/medicinal premixes for the same reasons: helps ingrediants stick together, keeps dust down, makes powdery stuff granular. Two points to add here: add liquid AFTER ingrediants are thoroughly mixed. Add it very slowly and a bit at a time mixing well after each addition cuz you can't remove it and once the threshold is reached, even a little bit more can instantly seem like way too much.

I don't see why molasses, corn syrup, maybe even honey couldn't be used here as well. What do you think?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris Allingham:
I was wondering if the oil might go rancid after some period of time? If so, how long? Probably not an issue if you make small batches and use them quickly, I guess. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Heat, light, and oxygen exposure will cause oil to go rancid. How long it takes depends on the type of oil and how much exposure to any or all of those three things it receives. Generally, the paler oils have a bit longer shelf life than the darker oils. I'd suggest mixing your dry ingredients well, then scooping out a 1/2 cup and mixing the oil in to that, and storing it in an opaque or nearly opaque shaker top container that also has a lid--like an empty Lawry's bottle. Keep away from heat. Sunflower, safflower, or canola would be good choices.
 
I've also been concerned with rancidity, so I mix the canola oil into 1/2 cup of the seasoning mix as I need it to refill my (Spice Islands) shaker jar. A Spice Islands jar holds 1/2 cup, so that works very well. I mostly only cook for the two of us, so that size will last long enough around here.

Rita
 

 

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