Flavoured Finishing Salt

My mother gave me a gift last year that was completely genius. She gave me two tubs of home made, flavoured salts. One with chilli, the other with herbs.
As it turns out, this is the easiest thing ever to make - and it'll save you a small fortune. Not to mention what a nice gift it makes! I won't tell you how much of what ingredient to use, as I think this should be up to you. You might want a hint of flavour or very strong flavour salt. Here is a guideline however:
If you use herbs (fresh or dried), mix 2 tbsp herbs to 1 cup salt. For chilli, smoked paprika, lavender etc, use 1 tbsp of flavouring per cup of salt.
However, you can safely use a quarter cup of seasoning to every 3/4 cup of salt.


You want the salt to be coarse, not fine. So you have two options: Buy Maldon salt which already has that perfect, flaky consistency - or buy rock salt and give it a whizz in the food processor.

Suggested Flavours:

Mixed herbs: buy a selection of herbs, such as basil, thyme/lemon thyme, oregano, sage (be careful with rosemary. You can add a little, but it can be very overpowering). Clean the herbs and pat them dry. If you are using rock salt, put the herbs in a food processor, then add the salt and pulse to break the salt into smaller bits. Transfer mixture to a baking tray. You can either dry the herb/salt mixture in the oven (100C for an hour, stirring occasionally) or you can air dry it. The salt will suck the moisture out of the herbs in no time. If you are using Maldon salt, mix the chopped herbs with the salt, but don't put the salt in the food processor.
When dried, transfer to a jar with a lid.

Chilli: Chop fresh, red chillies (with or without seeds) and mix with the salt. Dry as above.

Lavender: Add dried lavender and salt to a jar with a lid. Shake to mix and leave to infuse. Great with salad, tomatoes and avocados.

Lemon: Using a potato peeler, peel lemon zest off the lemon. Make sure not to cut into the white, fleshy bit, it is very bitter. Whizz it up to a fine consistency in the food processor, then add salt (see above). The oils from the lemon makes the salt really fragrant and is delicious with all seafood, vegetables and grilled chicken. Air dry mixure for a couple of hours, then transfer to a jar.

Rosemary Sea Salt:

1. In a large, high-sided saute pan, combine salt and rosemary. Place over medium heat, and warm through, about 10 minutes. Transfer salt and rosemary mixture to a container. Let cool 5 minutes, uncovered; then cover with an airtight lid. Let stand at least overnight.

2. When ready to fill containers, discard old rosemary. Fill desired containers with salt, and garnish top with a fresh sprig of rosemary; seal containers.

Source

Have fun with this - experiment with various flavours! Let me know how you get on.