Monday, June 25, 2012

Herb Salt Favors

For the tutorial on the handmade embossed labels featured in this post, click here.  Now, back to our scheduled program:

I frickin' love salt.  


Our homey home girl Caitlin had the most amazing wedding ever.  One of the best parts of being in her wedding was getting to know her and her husband's family better.  Her mother in law, Jackie, is a hoot.  I absolutely love her.  She made herb salt for everyone that attended the rehearsal dinner and I smuggled about 3 of the jars home with me.  Maybe I shouldn't say "smuggled" since I almost didn't get through airport security. 


I literally had to open up one of the jars and have security smell it in order to convince them that explosive powders don't usually include orange zest.  Luckily, I got through and was able to give one of the jars to my friend Lauren.  She loves it just as much as I do. 


Lauren offered to make her future sister in law, Lindsey, herb salt favors for her shower this past weekend and I jumped at the chance to help.  Except, I didn't really help.  She enlisted her husband Zan.  I helped with the cute little labels that I'll show you how to make tomorrow.  

She made the following herb salt flavors:

Parsley, oregano, basil, lemon zest, and garlic – good on all things Italian & good in olive oil for dipping

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme – good for chicken and pork and root veggies and beans

Parsley, cilantro, lime zest, and garlic – good in everything – especially salsa


Zest an entire lime, lemon, or orange depending on what flavor you enjoy.  I wonder how basil grapefruit salt would be as a cocktail rim...hmm...


You are going to want a whole mess of herbs.  For each batch, you are going to want 4 cups of herbs per recipe so go nuts. 


Oliver is so over it...


Anyway, you are going to want to pulse your herbs in a food processor so they are nice and fine.  


Ta da....


If you want, you can also add 4-5 garlic cloves to this as well.  YUM.  Add the herb paste to the salt...


...and stir it up...


Once the herbs are fully incorporated into the salt, pour the salt onto a cookie sheet. 


Next, spread it out so it's nice and even. 


To speed things along, you can bake the salt in a 200 degree oven for 2-3 hours.  Otherwise, it will take a couple of days for the salt and herbs to dry out.

  
 Ok so here's the deal.  If you bake it, the salt is going to get crusty.  


But fear not...


Just throw it in a plastic ziplock bag and break it up with your hand or the back of a wooden spoon. 


In order to bottle these up without getting salt everywhere, use a funnel.  Don't have a funnel? Use a rolled up piece of paper.  Lauren is a smarty pants. 


Ok...here is the (almost) competed product.  Tomorrow, I'll show you how we put together the super cute, personalized labels.    


Have you guys ever made herb salt before?  Any crazy combos we just need to try?  Let us know and stay hungry! 


Herb Salt Recipes 
3 cups Kosher Salt
4 cups finely chopped fresh herbs select a combination – parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, cilantro,
oregano, basil
Minced zest from one lemon, lime, or orange can also be added
4-5 minced cloves of garlic can also be added

1. To begin, choose a combination of herbs and finely chop by hand or use a food processor

Some combinations that are good are:

Parsley, oregano, basil, lemon zest, and garlic – good on all things Italian & good in olive oil for dipping

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (just like the song) – good for chicken and pork and root veggies and beans

Parsley, cilantro, lime zest, and garlic – good in everything – especially salsa

2. Stir minced herbs into the 3 cups of kosher salt and spread on 2 cookie sheets. Let the salt dry
out the herbs for 2-3 days – you’ll know when they are ready because the moisture will be gone
and the salt will be dry and crusty (if you are pressed for time you can bake the mix in a low
200 degree oven for 2-3 hours. It may take more or less time you’ll know when salt begins to
get crusty. As it cools it will dry out more.)

3. For a finer salt return it in batches to the food processor and pulse until herbs are a very fine
grade like the salt. Or you can leave the mixture the way it is and put it in a salt or pepper
grinder – a very nice presentation.

4. After the mixture is dried and processed (either ground fine or left whole) I like to add an 8oz
container of Tony Chachere’s Creole lite seasoning. www.tonychachere.com) it adds a nice kick.

8 comments:

  1. This may sound kind of stupid, but how would you use this? In a recipe instead of salt and herbs added individually, or as seasoning on a finished meal?

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    Replies
    1. There are no stupid questions! Especially when it comes to cooking :) Use this salt any time you would use regular salt - seasoning a dish, or on the table in a salt grinder/shaker. I only cook with unsalted butter so I can add my own salt and flavor. Let us know if you have any other questions!

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  2. what an amazing idea! these are super cute housewarming gifts too. I'm gonna write these down in my list of things to try!

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  3. Hey Hardly Housewives, Love your blog! I tried this recipe over July 4th weekend, and it turned out great! Looking forward to tweeting a picture soon :) thanks for the awesome idea!

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  4. Could use use sea salt?

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  5. I love this idea! Can you tell me where you got the jars? We want to do this for our wedding in Hawaii using black Hawaiian sea salt.

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    Replies
    1. What a great idea! You could maybe even do a ginger garlic black Hawaiian sea salt! You can find the jars at a craft store like Michael's. Good luck and have a great wedding!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!