Kick off your year with a little bit of spice!
Paul Family Farms and Steel City Salt have teamed up to create an extra-special salt blend, using maple sugar from Paul Family Farms and dried jalapeños.
This Maple Jalapeño Blend combines the sweetness of the maple syrup, and pairs it with light heat and salt. It’s a great rub for chicken, steak, or pork, as the maple will caramelize leaving crunchy sweetness with a touch of heat.
John Tarallo of Steel City Salt says the company originally had a Maple Salt when they first started the business. They had to discontinue it after a few months, as it was expensive and time-consuming to produce. However, customers continue to ask about the blend, so Tarallo reached out to his friend Travis Paul of Paul Family Farms to lend assistance with an updated version.
And, to enhance the subtle flavors of maple, Tarallo decided to add peppers to the new recipe. They initially experimented with Habanero, but found it to be too hot and overpowering to the maple. Jalapeño ended up being the perfect fit.
Both Tarallo and Paul have favorite ways to use the blend.
Tallaro used it on his Brussels sprouts and cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, both of which were a huge hit. Also, sweets and desserts, chocolates, cookies, taste great with the blend. His personal favorite is including on cornbread.
“We are still experimenting but we haven’t found anything it doesn’t taste good on!” laughs Tarallo.
Paul loves it on chicken and on home fries.
The Maple Jalapeño Blend can be purchased online, or picked up from various locations in The Strip District, as well as the love, Pittsburgh shop on Mt. Washington.
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