Our Recipes

Pillowy soft, creamy caramels with a touch of Mark's signature fleur de sel make the most luscious confection this side of the Mississippi. This recipe and more can be found in Mark Bitterman's James Beard Award winning book, Salted: A Manifesto.     Seriously, what's better than salt + butter? Makes a bunch of caramels Ingredients: 1 cup heavy cream 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 cup light corn syrup 1/4 cup water 2 three-finger pinches Bitterman's Fleur de Sel, for finishing  Line an 8×8 inch square dish with wax paper and then slightly oil the paper. Combine butter and heavy cream in a small saucepan on low heat until it begins to simmer. Remove from heat and set aside. In a large saucepan, melt sugar, water, and corn syrup together on medium-high heat, until mixture dissolves, begins to bubble and turns slightly brown in color (350 degrees F on a candy thermometer).  Remove from heat and gently stir in the cream mixture.   Place back on the burner and boil, stirring vigorously, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (about 10 minutes). Pour into prepared 8×8 dish, then let sit at room temperature until cooled and slightly firm. After 1 1/2 hours, invert dish onto cutting board. Peel off wax paper and cut into 1×2 inch rectangles. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and wrap in 4×5 inch wax paper squares. Find more recipes in Mark Bitterman's James Beard Award winning book, Salted: A Manifesto  

Bitterman's Fleur de Sel  sea salt is mineral-rich, delicate sea salt hand harvested using only wooden rakes and wheelbarrow in a stunning mangrove forest, just 3 miles from the Pacific Ocean. To amp up the flavor of your next pie, sprinkle a generous pinch of Bitterman's Fleur de Sel right before baking!   Fleur de sel literally means "Flower of Salt" in French, and many classic fleur de sels are produced in regions of France - Guérande, Camargue, Noirmoutier, and I'ile de Ré. But the label 'fleur de sel' describes the way the salt is made and the qualities it possesses.  Bitterman's Fleur de Sel is a sun evaporated salt with fine, irregular, moist, mineral-rich crystals. This salt is made in Guatemala by raking the crystals that blossom on the surface of a crystallizing pan. Pure and unrefined, this sea salt is hand harvested using only wooden rakes and wheelbarrow in a stunning mangrove forest, just 3 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Try Bitterman's Fleur de Sel or   Taha'a Vanilla Salt sprinkled on top of this decadent apple pie! Ingredients: Makes 1 pie Pie crust: 1/2 cup vegetable shortening or unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon Bitterman's Fleur de Sel  1/2 cup cold water (cold tap water with some ice cubes in it) Pie filling: 1/2 cup unsalted butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon Bitterman's Fleur de Sel, plus more for serving 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 green apples- peeled, cored, sliced For serving: Taha'a Vanilla Salt, for serving  Instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch pie dish and set aside.First, make the pie crust. Mix shortening or butter with flour and salt using a fork or pastry blender until it's crumbly. Add as much water as needed to hold it together, and mix continue to mix gently with a fork. Roll out over a floured surface, and cut into half. Cover one half in saran wrap and place in the fridge. Roll out the other half in a 9 inch circle and line your pie dish. In a large bowl, sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples and toss to combine. Place the mixture into the pie crust lined pie dish. Place the pie dish in the fridge while you're making the caramel sauce.Next, make the caramel sauce. In a medium pan, heat butter on medium heat until melted. Then add in the flour to form a paste. Add the water, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, vanilla, brown sugar and white sugar and bring to a boil. Then reduce temperature to low and simmer (keep caramel sauce on simmer until you're using it or else it may harden). Take out your pie crust and pie dish out of the fridge. Take about 3/4 of your caramel sauce and pour over the apples. Roll out and cut the top pie crust into thin strips, and create a lattice top over the apples. Using a pastry brush, brush the rest of the caramel sauce over your pie. Sprinkle the top with fleur de sel sea salt. Place pie in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 35-45 minutes or until the apples are softened. Once baked, allow to cool a bit and serve with vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle generously with Taha'a Vanilla Salt. Enjoy! Original recipe from Farah Raqib. Follow along on instagram at @findfarah. Visit http://tplusf.tumblr.com/

A classic pie made special with maple syrup and finished with Bitterman's Fleur de Sel, perfect for a cold, wintry day.

There is nothing better for a creamy, romantic meal than a french fleur de sel, specifically the Fleur de Sel de l'Île de Ré.  When our firstborn came onto the scene he was a terror.  Not the misbehaving kind of terror, which usually does little more than wreck your sense of personal dignity and bury your life’s dreams under a three-year blanket of hard domestic labor.  For one, he rarely slept.  Entire nights might be passed watching the moonbeams glide across the deep space blue of his staring eyes, which seemed preternaturally aware of his surroundings, calling every move we made into question. But most insidiously — he ate.  He ate early and he ate often, with unflappable abandon.  One night, not more than a few handfuls of months into life, sitting in a baby chair clipped onto the side of the table, he watched as I put the finishing touches on a romantic meal for my wife and myself.  Wine chilled, candles lit, salad tossed, baby staring with evil innocence from his edge of the table, I served up filet of sole with herb butter, scattered with a luscious French fleur de sel. The aroma of fish, herbs, and butter filled the air.  Then the baby lunged for the closest plate, and devoured the fish before our eyes. Fleur de sel has no higher purpose than to grace the buttery-moist flesh of sole.  The excellent Fleur de Sel de l'Île de Ré, France, with its mineral sheen of a full moon, underscores the perfection of each of the other elements in the dish, defining their features in the most loving light.  Sole is so delicate that the grassy pungency of fresh herbs must be suffused in butter to preserve the balance of the fish.  The fundamental soleness of the sole is truly a wonder to taste—full to bursting but hard to grasp—like insomnia that set you dreaming as you stare at a child’s moonlit face. Serves 4 Ingredients: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (the best you can get), 15 minutes out of the fridge 3 tablespoons medium chopped fresh herbs, such as tarragon, parsley, dill, thyme, sage, chervil, savory, and/or rosemary Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon 4 sole (or flounder) fillets, about 6 ounces each Coarsely ground mixed peppercorns 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 two-finger pinches Fleur de Sel de l'Île de Ré Blend the butter, herbs and lemon zest together. Gently roll into a cylinder about the size of your thumb and cut into 4 disks, set aside. Pat the sole fillets dry with a paper towel and season with pepper.Put 2 large skillets over high heat until very hot. Add a tablespoon of oil to each skillet and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Put 2 fillets in each pan, whiter side down and sauté until the edges of the fillets are opaque, about 2 minutes. Turn carefully and cook on the other side until the surface is dry but the flesh is still moist in the center, about 2 more minutes. Transfer to plates. Remove the pans from the heat and deglaze with the lemon juice. Pour over the fish. Top each fish fillet with a pad of herb butter and season with a pinch or two of Fleur de Sel de l'Île de Ré or other French fleur de sel (don’t substitute sea salt!). Garnish with more herbs and lemon zest, if you prefer. Serve right away. Recipe, photo, and words by Mark Bitterman. Recipe, words, and photograph by Mark Bitterman.

Celebrate summer's everlasting bounty with this fresh vegetable frittata, which is sprinkled with Haleakala Ruby Red Hawaiian Sea Salt right before serving.     Celebrate summer's everlasting bounty with this fresh vegetable frittata, which is sprinkled with Haleakala Ruby Red Hawaiian Sea Salt right before serving. Serves 6 to 8 Ingredients:  1 1/2 cup cooked potatoes, peeled and sliced 2 big pinches of Bitterman's Fleur de Sel,  1 pinch for the water and 1 pinch for the vegetables 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 large bell pepper, seeds removed, sliced 1 zucchini, cut into rounds 1 summer squash, such as pattypan squash, cut into small pieces 1/2 cup mushrooms, washed and sliced 1 cup fresh spinach 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise 10 large farm-fresh eggs 4 ounces goat cheese Haleakala Ruby Coarse Red Hawaiian Sea Salt or Molokai Red Hawaiian Sea Salt, for finishing Freshly ground Black Pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Boil the potatoes in a large pot of salted water until softened, then drain, peel, and cut into pieces. Set aside. Heat oil in a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Cook bell peppers until softened, about 3 minutes. Add in zucchini and squash slices, then season with a big pinch of fleur de sel sea salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add in the sliced mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in spinach and cook for about 1 minute or until the spinach starts to wilt. Then mix in the cooked potatoes and allow it to warm through, about 3 minutes. Lastly, add in the cherry tomatoes and remove from heat.  Meanwhile, crack 10 eggs in a medium bowl and add in a dash of fleur de sel sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Whisk for about 1 minute until the eggs come together. Pour eggs over the veggie mixture. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top.  Place in preheated oven and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until set (the middle will barely jiggle). Once set, place on the broiler setting and broil for about 1 to 2 minutes to brown the top. Allow to cool slightly, then sprinkle generously with Haleakala Ruby Coarse Red Hawaiian Sea Salt and serve! Don't forget the hot sauce! Recipe & Photos by Farah Raqib. To see more of Farah's photos and recipes, visit tplusf.tumblr.com.