Take an Italian Trip Down Memory Lane With Us

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Take an Italian Trip Down Memory Lane With Us

While living in Italy, our favorite thing to do as a family was to jump in our little car on the weekend and go exploring. We were molto fortunata (extremely lucky) to live near the Amalfi Coast. During the colder months, Amalfi Coast is very similar to Newport in that the town quiet’s down….like realllllyyyyy quiets down and you almost feel like you have this beautiful place to yourself. Well, this one day, it truly felt like our own. We walked down Via Marina Di Praia which hugs the azure blue Mediterranean Sea and discovered this isolated cove with a rocky beach and dotted with closed for the season restaurants - except one - Bar Mare Petit Restaurant. The proprietor, Salvatore Ferraioli welcomed our family with a smile and told us to come in and his mama would make our family a pasta lunch. It was just our family of 4 at one table and Salvatore and his mom and dad at the other table watching futbol. Mama prepared gnocchi Sorrentina for our boys and her signature dish for the adults. Mama Mia, we were beyond lucky that day to have discovered this gem of a place and be welcomed in!

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'Join the Club' Bars

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'Join the Club' Bars

What is ‘Join the Club’ Bar? It is essentially two layers of caramel in between three layers of Club Crackers. Surprising with the Club crackers, right?! The topping is a thick blanket of chocolate, butterscotch, and peanut butter. Newport Sea Salt is the crown jewel on the top balancing out the sweetness and making these oh so memorable. You will want to have others ‘Join the Club’ and share them at your Superbowl and Oscar parties.

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Hummus with Butcher's Blend Roasted Chickpeas

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Hummus with Butcher's Blend Roasted Chickpeas

I am sure you have noticed through our social media posts, Instagram stories and ‘From the Reef’ recipe blog, that we like to cook, bake, prepare, and enjoy food. Growing up, Matt would ask his mom first thing in the morning, “What’s for dinner?” That hasn’t changed in our home, although, it has changed to, “What do you want to eat tonight?”. :) With 2 growing boys, we were preparing lots of calorie-dense meals to keep up with their appetites..and well, the weight scale did the same for us…the numbers grew for Matt and I (and not our kids)!

SO this hummus is in an effort to brighten our weekdays and lend a positive light on the weight scale with our increased gym routine and ahem, more water not wine. ;)

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Roasted Grapes + Thyme + Ricotta Toast - Cheers to 2020!

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Roasted Grapes + Thyme + Ricotta Toast - Cheers to 2020!

Hello and Happy 2020 to you!! The last decade was full of deployments, military moves, Matt’s retirement from the U.S. Navy, and the creation of our small business. Holy cannoli! I am excited to see where this next decade takes our family and of course, Newport Sea Salt Co. 

For the past 2 years, we have seen our little idea blossom into an actual small business that makes us both really proud and excited to see where we can take it. Have we had some major lessons? Each and Everyday. :) Small business is still a new frontier for us and we are taking in all the lessons learned over the past few years so we can get Newport Sea Salt stronger (and its owners) in the next decade. 

So thank YOU to each and every one of you for your support, for your kids stopping at our market table to enjoy a sample and learn about where sea salt comes from, to our customers leaving messages of encouragement on our social media channels, to all of the vendors that do business with us. We are so lucky to have the awesome Lil’Rhody and beyond support!

We wish all of you a fabulously happy and healthy 2020! 

So on to the recipe…

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Veteran Built and a side of Apple Pie

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Veteran Built and a side of Apple Pie

So on to that side of Apple Pie…what could be more American than serving in the military and loving apple pie?! :) Matt saw the bowl of red local macintosh apples that were waiting for our boys to eat them and asked when were we going to have apple pie?? Done. I used the salted caramel I recently made from Jane Soudah’s cookbook, ‘Delightful Desserts’ and baked the Salted Caramel Apple Pie for dessert. Our whole family so enjoyed this apple pie, that Matt has already requested it as our dessert for our Thanksgiving with our extended family. We did serve this pie warmed with a scoop or 2 of Steve’s Bourbon Vanilla and a Salted Caramel ice cream. YUM!!

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Polenta Portabellos

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Polenta Portabellos

Rainy days make me want to eat, oh heck, all I think about is eating. This blogging venture can prove to be a challenge with all the food I am making plus the colder shorter days - yikes, I better start blogging about lemon, sea salt and water. Anyways, our sea salt harvester, Matt took a much needed break away (it’s been a good 2 and a half years of non-stop small biz) to take a road trip with his brother, father, and best friend to visit his grandfathers’ alma mater and see a football game at the University of Notre Dame. It was 5 days of good times with the ‘boys’ and major food enjoying. ;) Matt just returned to Newport on Monday and I had made a comforting corn chowder and next up was this dish ‘Polenta Portobellos’ from Erin Gleeson’s Forest Feast cookbook. When people ask about possible recipes to go along with our sea salt I like to have a few I can mention for each season and this is definitely a keeper. The aroma of the portobello mushrooms with olive oil and minced garlic with our rosemary and thyme sea salt roasting in the oven was fantastic. Scroll to the end of the post for the recipe and if you prepare it let me know what you think….Bon Appetit and stay salty!

I will leave you with a few photos from Matt’s weekend away

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Salted Caramel Sauce and a Story....→

/ Newport Sea Salt Co. /
Salted Caramel Sauce and a Story....

Fall in New England welcomes the most gorgeous colors of orange and red to our foliage with cooler temperatures and the need to stay cozy with comfort food. From hearty lentil and vegetable soups to pumpkin muffins, bread, coffees, well pumpkin everything to apple pies and crumbles - Ooooh, I want it all! (Good thing, we have a spin bike in our basement and running shoes ready at the door!) I have been perusing cookbooks for inspiration to fill our growing boys’ growing appetites for all things Fall and delicious. As this past Sunday was a total wash-out and so was our 12-year-old’s State Cross Country Meet, it was the perfect day to get cooking/creating. Matt got an early start with a slow simmering meat stew. I wanted to make an apple pie with a salted caramel sauce, because every Sunday dinner needs a dessert, right?! However, we were running out of time as we were taking our boys to Jane Pickens Theater to see ‘To Kill a Mockingbird"‘. I was going to cheat…yup, you heard me, I was going to cut a corner and buy salted caramel ready to go, but I resisted the temptation for convenience and fear..more on that fear later and decided to make my own.

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Moules Frites - My Favorite Summer Meal

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Who am I kidding…this is my ALL-time, all-season favorite meal! Mussels, white wine, onions, garlic, shoestring french fries, and a baguette to soak up all that lovely, super flavorful broth - HECK YEAH!!!

Recently, we had been on a crazy juggling exercise of business and family schedules and throw in our 12 year-old Connor’s all-star game travel series for good measure. ;) We were so looking forward to relaxing at his Sunday early evening baseball game at the picturesque Marine Field overlooking the Newport Harbor when the gray ominous clouds rolled in and the skies opened up to a deluge of torrential rain. Well, there went that game. In place, we set up our newly acquired and freshly painted mini picnic table (Thank you, Sass) with a mussel spread that would make a nostalgic New Englander proud! I seriously cannot get enough of these beautiful navy blue bivalve mollusks with a pearly blue shelled interior….and they are so inexpensive to buy. For a couple pounds that can feed our family of 4 - they come in at $10! So think twice when you order them at a restaurant as they are so easy to make at home and serve al fresco on a porch like we did. Enjoy the summer friends!


Moules Frites a la Mullins

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb. mussels, de-bearded and scrubbed

  • 1/4 cup of Olive Oil

  • 1/2 cup dry white wine

  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed

  • Sliced garlic - 2 cloves

  • Chopped Parsley

  • Cherry tomatoes (gave a pop of color!) - handful or 2

  • 1 medium sliced shallot

  • A splash of seafood broth

  • Crusty baguette!!

  • Shoestring Fries

  • Rosemary and Thyme Newport Sea Salt Co.

How-To:

Well, our how-to as there are so many many ways to ‘Moules-Frites’….

  • Shortcut: Take freezer shoestring fries and pop them into a pre-heated oven…meanwhile have all your ingredients ready to go.

  • First, heat olive oil and butter in a 12” high-sided skillet over low heat.

  • Take chopped shallots and throw it into the skillet, the aroma will envelop your kitchen…

  • After approx. 6 minutes, add sliced garlic and lightly sea salted tomatoes to skillet…

  • Let “marry” for a few minutes, then add white wine (that you enjoy) to the skillet, take a sip of your own and chat for a minute, and then add a splash of seafood broth…still with me???

  • Add scrubbed and de-bearded mussels, season with a sprinkle of sea salt, bring up to medium-high and COVER your skillet…

  • Cook, occasionally shaking skillet, until all mussels are opened, about 5 minutes.

  • Open the lid….and smell the DIVINE aroma waft out of the mussel heaven pan…..Divide mussels, only if you want to share between 2 large bowls or if you want to save some dishes just serve from the pan and throw those fries in, baby! I sprinkle our shoestring fries with our Rosemary and Thyme Sea Salt and serve with a mustard aioli…let me know if you would like that recipe…;)

  • Add friends and family around your picnic table and enjoy! OH>>>>>and serve chilled white wine or beer…it completes this meal!

    CHEERS!