A couple years ago I made an Rosemary-Orange Salt as part of a kitchen gifts class. It was a highlight and loved by all. It seemed like a natural direction to go in with the basil.
Start with a chiffonade of basil. What's that you may ask? Simply roll the stacked leaves tightly - like a teeny, tiny jelly roll made of basil.
Run your well-honed knife through and you have chiffonade of basil. Fancy.
For infused salts like this I prefer(red) to use the lovely coarse sea salt from Trader Joe's. Alas, they no longer carry it. I hate it when that happens but I am happy I have this one jar left. You can substitute any nice coarse sea salt for the one shown.
Chop the basil further with your knife perpendicular to your initial cuts and let it sit for about 30 minutes. While you wait - zest a lemon or two.
Toss everything into a food processor, blender or mini prep. I like to use the attachment for my immersion blender. It's the prefect size and easy to clean. Give it a few pulses...
...and you have Basil-Lemon Infused Sea Salt. I chose to keep this one very simply flavored, for tomatoes or fish. Of course you can add anything you like in any quantity you prefer. Peppercorn? Seeds or cumin or fennel? A touch of freshly grated ginger? Basil of different flavors and colors, oregan, dill, sage. Need I go on?
Now is the time to grind up a bunch in all the flavors of the garden. I think a trio of 1/2 pint jars would make a thoughtful gift from your garden. Take a peak at this post for a bit of packaging inspiration from a real dork....I mean, pro.
The hardest part of this project will be giving them away.
This idea sounds good. How long will the salt keep? Do you have to store it any special way?
ReplyDeleteMy sage and rosemary plants are out of control as well, do you have any ideas for them?
Valerie
Everyday Inspired