Tag Archive for: kosher salt

DIY Rosemary Herb Salt

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Elevate Your Culinary Creations with Herb Salt

Do you like to use herbs to flavor your favorite dishes? If so, then you’ll want to try herb salt.

Unveiling Herb Salts – Nature’s Flavorful Blend

Rosemary herb salt

So what are herb salts, you may wonder?

They are a mix of the herb of your choice combined with kosher or sea salt and they add delicious flavor to food.

In short, they capture the fresh flavor of herbs and are used in place of regular salt.

Herb salts are easy to create and they make great gifts.

I like to make herb salts, which includes rosemary salt.

rosemary shrub for making herb salt

How to Make Rosemary Salt

Since I don’t have a rosemary shrub in my garden, I got some from my sister’s house. All it takes are a few fresh sprigs of rosemary cut from the shrub.  (You can also use fresh rosemary from the grocery store).

rosemary shrub for making herb salt

Crafting Your Rosemary Salt

You will need 3 1/3 cups of kosher salt and 1/3 cup of fresh rosemary along with a jar to store it in.

1. Rinse the rosemary sprigs in water.

2. Remove the leaves, starting from the top downward.  

rosemary shrub for making herb salt

3. Put the rosemary and salt in your food processor and pulse until the rosemary leaves are approximately 1/8 of an inch long.

4. Place the rosemary salt onto a baking sheet and put in an oven that is heated to 200 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.

5. Let the herb salt cool and then put in jars with a lid.  

rosemary herb salt

That’s it!  I told you it was easy.

Savoring the Rosemary Salt

Rosemary salt tastes great on your favorite meat dish including beef, chicken or pork.  I also like to sprinkle it on the top of buttered rolls – yum!

basil herb salt

Exploring Herb Varieties for Herb Salt

While rosemary salt is delicious, it is just the beginning – there are other herbs that can be used to make herb salt.

Basil Salt

Basil salt is a great flavoring for Italian dishes such as marinara sauce or sprinkled on pizza.

To learn how to make basil salt, click here.

cilantro herb salt

Cilantro Salt

If you love cilantro, how about a sprinkle of cilantro salt on your favorite Mexican dish?

Cilantro is one of those herbs that many people can’t get enough of.  Click here for instructions to make your own cilantro salt.

A Tasty Gift-Giving Idea

Whether you choose to cultivate these flavorful herbs in your very own garden, peruse the vibrant offerings at your local farmers market, or simply pick them up during a routine grocery store visit, you’ll find that herb salts are an exquisite and versatile addition to your culinary arsenal. Their delightful blend of herbs and salt can transform everyday meals into gourmet experiences, elevating your cooking to new heights.

Moreover, consider the pleasure of sharing these homemade herb salts with fellow food enthusiasts in your life. As thoughtful, handcrafted gifts, they’re perfect for the ‘foodie’ who values the art of gastronomy. Whether it’s a birthday, holiday, or a simple gesture of appreciation, presenting a jar of herb salt infused with your love and culinary creativity adds a personal touch that’s sure to be savored. So, explore the world of herb salts, and let their aromatic, flavorful essence enhance your dishes and brighten the palates of those you cherish.

DIY Cilantro Herb Salt

Are you someone who adores cilantro, looking for more ways to add it to their favorite Mexican food?

Here is a new use for cilantro that deserves a spot on your pantry shelf – cilantro herb salt.

Cilantro herb salt

Cilantro herb salt can be used to flavor food where you would normally add salt and cilantro separately.  It is so easy to make, you’ll want to create a huge batch for yourself and friends and family.

Here is how to make your own:

1. Add 1 bunch of cilantro (cutting the stems off first) to your food processor.  

Cilantro herb salt

2. Add 1 1/2 cups of kosher salt and pulse until the cilantro is mixed in and the salt turned green.

Cilantro herb salt

3. Place the cilantro salt mixture on a baking sheet and bake at 225 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and lightly mix up and bake for another 30 minutes.

4. Allow to cool before putting it in an airtight glass jar.

Cilantro herb salt

Your cilantro herb salt will keep for a long time, but the flavor is strongest when used within 6 months.

So what are you waiting for?  Grab some cilantro and kosher salt today and make some delicious salt for yourself and more for gifts.

**Cilantro herb salt is just the beginning.  Learn how to make basil or rosemary herb salts too!

Got Lemons? Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

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Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

Do you have a lemon or other type of citrus tree growing in your backyard?

Chances are, if you live in California, the Southwest or Southeastern United States, you do or your neighbor does.

While many people throughout the rest of the nation are waiting for snow to disappear, we get to enjoy the sight of colorful citrus fruit hanging from our trees, just ready to be picked and enjoyed.

During this time of year, neighbors give bags of excess fruit to neighbors or local food banks.

I have a young lemon tree, that isn’t old enough to produce fruit for me, but that hasn’t stopped me from having lemons to use.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

Between my mother’s prolific lemon tree on the family farm to those from my vet (who happens to be our neighbor), I have plenty to use.

I’ve used lemons in a variety of ways from freezing the zest, the juice, making citrus cleaner, natural air fresheners and was looking for another way to use them.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

I recently learned about lemon salt and how great it tastes on my favorite dishes – chicken, fish, homemade salad dressings, salsa and much more – basically anything that you want to add a hint of citrus and salt too.

Making lemon salt is very easy to do and can be done using grapefruit, limes, or oranges instead.

Citrus salts make a great homemade gift and are also a great way to preserve the taste of your favorite citrus when they are no longer in season.

Whether you grow your own lemons or buy them from the store, lemon salt is easy to make.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

1. You’ll need 3 lemons and 1 cup of kosher salt.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

2. Zest 3 lemons.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

3. Add together 1 cup kosher salt, the lemon zest and the juice from 1 lemon.

(Of course, you can make a lot more, like I did – I had a lot of lemons and wanted to make some as gifts.)

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

4. Mix together the lemon juice, salt and zest.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt
Got Lemons? Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt
Got Lemons? Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

5. Pour the lemon salt mixture into a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet.

6. Place in a 200 degree F. oven for a half hour. Then lightly mix it up and bake for another 20 minutes.

(If it hasn’t dried all the way, cover it with a clean dish towel and let sit overnight.)  

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

7. Use your fingers to break up any large clumps or you can put it in your food processor and pulse it 2 – 3 times.

Make Your Own DIY Citrus Salt

That’s it!  I told you it was easy.  You can use it right away or store it in a sealed jar to keep it for longer.

Lemon or salts made from other citrus fruit last a long time – at least a year if put in a sealed container.

If you love lemon pepper, you can simply add pepper to the mixture for a delicious addition to your steak!

basil and herb salts

I’ve been enjoying making flavored salts for cooking with.  Last year, I made basil and herb salts, which were delicious too!

DIY Herb Salt Blends From the Garden

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I am always on the lookout for new things to make from the garden.

Recently I learned how to make specially flavored salts using herbs from my garden.  ‘Herb salts’ have become a popular flavoring tool in the culinary community and they are very easy to make.

The process of making herb salts starts out looking like this…

making herb salts

And ends up transformed into this…

making herb salts

Are you interested in making your own herb salts?   

Summertime means that many of my herbs are actively growing and I sometimes run of ways to use all of the fragrant leaves of them.  

Herb or ‘gourmet’ salts are a great way to preserve herbs while adding a new twist to flavoring my favorite foods.

Basil Salt

Photo: Basil Salt

In my last post, I shared how to make basil salt using two ingredients – fresh basil leaves and kosher salt.  

Today, I’d love to show you how to make your own unique herb salt blend.

DIY Herb Salt Blends From the Garden

For my herb salt blend, I went out into the garden and looked for a variety of herbs that I love to cook with.  I found rosemary, sageand thyme. I then grabbed a head of garlic and kosher salt. I must admit that I was thrilled that I had all these herbs growing in my garden.  I grew the garlic too! 

For equipment, you should have a cutting board, a sharp knife for chopping, a baking sheet and a glass jar with a lid.  

You can make this recipe using a food processor, but it is optional.

DIY Herb Salt Blends From the Garden

1. You will need 2/3 cup rosemary, 2/3 cup sage and 2/3 cup thyme leaves.  These are the amounts I used to get the flavor I liked, but you can play around with the ratio of each herb or choose different herbs to get the flavor you want.  

DIY Herb Salt Blends From the Garden

2. Place 1/2 cup kosher salt on your cutting board and add 5 peeled garlic cloves and chop them together.  The garlic should be finely minced at this point.

DIY Herb Salt Blends From the Garden

3. Chop all of the herbs together.

DIY Herb Salt Blends From the Garden

4. Combine the salt/garlic and the herbs together and continue chopping until finely chopped.

**You can use a food processor for steps 3 & 4 instead of chopping.  Simply put all ingredients in at once and pulse for 30 seconds. 

herb salt

At this point you can use your herb salt to flavor a roast of beef, chicken or pork before cooking or to flavor roasted vegetables.  But, if you aren’t using the herb salt right away, continue on…  

DIY Herb Salt Blends From the Garden

5. Put your herb salt mixture onto a baking sheet in a thin layer and bake in a 200 degree oven for 30 minutes.  This step dries out the herb mixture.  You can also allow it to air dry over a couple of days instead of putting it into the oven.

DIY Herb Salt Blends From the Garden

6. Place your dried mixture into a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds to get rid of any lumps.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can put the dried mixture into a Ziploc bag and roll it with a rolling pin until it is finely ground up.

Herb salts

7. Put your herb salt into a glass jar with a tightly-fitted lid.  Store in a dark, dry place with your spices and dried herbs to preserve its flavor.

I will use my herb saltblend to flavor a pork loin, baked chicken or even a beef roast.  It would also taste great when sprinkled on roasted vegetables or put into soups, don’t you think? 

As you can imagine there are a number of different types of herb salts that you can make.  Here are a few different combinations that you might want to try:

Rosemary Sage Garlic Salt

Photo: Rosemary Sage Garlic Salt

All of these herb salt blends can be made following the same steps as I have done for my herb salt blend – except where noted.

Rosemary Lemon Pepper Salt – 1/3 cup rosemary leaves, 2 tablespoons lemon zest, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and 1/2 cup kosher salt.
*(Increase cooking time to 1 hour)

Rosemary Sage and Garlic Salt – 1/2 cup of rosemary leaves, 1/2 cup sage, 5 peeled garlic cloves and 1/4 cup kosher salt.

Sage Thyme and Garlic Salt – 1/2 cup sage, 1/2 cup thyme, 5 peeled garlic cloves and 1/4 cup kosher salt.

If your garden is filled with herbs, this is a creative way to use them in the kitchen or give them as gifts.  Even if you don’t have a garden filled with herbs, you can find fresh herbs at your local grocery store or farmers market.

So, how about you? What would herb(s) would your ideal herb salt contain?

Got Basil? Create Delicious Herb Salt

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I enjoy DIY projects – particularly when they involve things that I have grown in my garden.

It seems that a lot of the things that I make from the garden include herbs.  I have dried herbs, frozen them into ice cubes and have done homemade herb butter.

Using herbs from my garden when I cook always gives me a special satisfaction, and my food tastes great too!

Basil herb Salt

Photo: Basil herb Salt

Today, I am excited to share with you how to make basil herb salt.  If you haven’t heard of herb salts before, they are referred to as ‘gourmet salts,’ which are very popular in the foodie community.  

Herb salts are easy to make – especially if you have a food processor.  The salt helps to preserve the fresh flavor of your favorite herbs, and they add fabulous flavor to your favorite dishes.  

Gourmet salts also make great gifts.

Basil herb Salt

It is hard to find anyone who doesn’t love basil and the flavor it adds to so many different dishes.  I enjoy making Italian food and am often using basil.  Usually, I tear or chop some fresh basil leaves and add them as flavoring.  

Basil salt can be used in a variety of ways including sprinkling into your favorite tomato sauce, on top of a fresh-baked pizza, adding to bruschetta or simply sprinkling some on the top of fresh tomatoes.   Are you ready to get started?    

You will need fresh basil (either from your garden or the store) and kosher salt – pretty simple!  

Grab your food processor, a baking sheet and a glass jar with a lid.

kosher salt and basil leaves

1. You will need 1/2 cup each of kosher salt and basil leaves.  

basil and kosher salt

2. Add the basil and kosher salt to your food processor and pulse for 30 seconds.

Got Basil? Create Delicious Herb Salt

The finished mixture should look like this.

Got Basil? Create Delicious Herb Salt

3. Pour the mixture out onto a baking sheet in a thin layer.  The mixture will be somewhat moist.

Got Basil? Create Delicious Herb Salt

4. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 225-degree oven.  After the first 10 minutes, lightly mix the basil salt mixture and bake for another 10 minutes – this helps it to dry out completely.

basil salt mixture

5. Put the dried basil salt mixture back into the food processor and blend to remove any remaining lumps.  *Make sure that the food processor is dry beforehand.

basil salt into a glass container

6. Put your basil salt into a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.

That’s it – you are done!

I must admit that this is a pretty easy project and the food processor does most of the work.    

Keep your basil salt in a dark, cool space where you keep your other herbs/spices to help preserve its flavor.  Use it within a few months for the best flavor.  

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This is one of the rare times that I didn’t have to spend any extra money on a DIY project – I had the basil growing in my garden, the kosher salt was in the pantry, and I used a mason jar that I had on hand.

Basil Salt

I made three batches of basil salt and will keep one for myself and start using it right away.  The rest I plan on giving away as gifts.    

Gifts from the garden and kitchen are personal and much appreciated by others.  Last year, I gave away homemade jam from my peach tree.  This year it will be basil salt.  

I can’t wait for my basil plant to grow more leaves so I can make more!

Herbes de Provence

Photo: ‘Herbes de Provence’ salt

**Basil salt is just the beginning of different types of herb salts you can make.  In my next post, I will show you how to make a customized herb salt blend as well as some ideas of other herb salts you can make.    

What would you use basil salt to flavor?