For some back story, take a look at our initial conversation and inspirations to flavoring our salt crusts from back in 2006. Since then we have explored numerous avenues in flavoring our crusts. In fact we have a recipe for ginger salt roasted beets here. This past week we took a number of our influences and the subject matter on hand and cooked coffee and salt roasted beets. The results were deliciuos. The salt crust was a protective medium for protecting the beets and allowing for even cooking while the aroma of the coffee permeated the beets.
For a base recipe combine 1 part ground coffee, 6 parts salt and 2 parts egg white. Mix all the ingredients together into a bowl. Put a base layer of the coffee salt into the bottom of pan, put the beets into the base and pack the rest of the salt crust around the beets. Bake the beets for 30 minutes in a 350°F oven for thirty minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let the salt crust cool. Crack open the salt crust and remove the beets. Peel the beets and serve them warm or cold.
