Sidonie Maroon

Consumable gifts are the best. I enjoy receiving homemade creations from my friend’s kitchens, especially fun stuff that I can use, over time, in my own dishes. Please give me vinegars, pickles, oils, spice mixes, teas, cordials, home canned everything, and best of all salts. I appreciate what I wouldn’t buy or make for myself, and when I sprinkle, shake or pour out their bounty, I smile and remember the giver.

In years past, I’ve leaned into my stores of apple butter, peach sauce and strawberry jam for the month long rounds of holiday giving, but I don’t home can as much, so rely more on making up batches of spice and hot drink mixes. It’s a delight to put on one of my cooking playlists. (Hmm, wouldn’t that make a splendid gift!) and dance around while measuring and grinding spices. Using an opened seed packet as a template, I collage and paint gift packets to put my culinary powders and potions in.

One of the simplest and appreciated gifts is herb salt. It magically lifts ordinary food to delicious extremes. Salt is elegant, even sophisticated to give, especially in a curvy jar with a ribbon and snazzy label. Better yet, include the recipe.

Rosemary and Garlic Herb Salt

A friend confided that she has an empty jar of Vignalta Herbed Sea Salt in her pantry. She’d bought it five years ago, at Aldrich’s, loved it, but they stopped carrying it. She’d tracked it down online, but it was $20 plus shipping. I looked at the ingredient list and wrote her a recipe. It’s the one I’m sharing and yummy on about everything.

I made a batch last night, stepping out into the garden, with the first quarter moon overhead, to snip rosemary and sage. I like to use fresh herbs and raw garlic in salts. It makes a moist salt, so full of flavor. I use a coarse gray Celtic salt mixed with some Redmond’s Real Salt. Great pairing with lots of minerally mild sweet notes. I added ground black pepper and garlic paste. Salt is a preservative, so it cures the herbs and garlic.

Titillating Salt Combos

Tip: Start with a base amount of salt, say 1 cup or 200g. Put your other ingredients in proportion to the salt.

DIY Ideas: Chili and Lime Salt, Dried Olive and Sundried Tomato Salt, Sriracha Salt, Hibiscus and Ginger Salt, Butcher’s Blend, Orange and Garlic Thyme Salt.

Local Alder Smoked Salt

If making homemade gifts feels like too much, let me suggest buying local. I’m excited about the P T Blend, a seasoning salt from www.aldersmoked.com It combines alder smoked paprika with garlic and alder smoked salt.

Charlie Bodony, owner of Some Like it Hot and Alder Smoked, is passionate about paprika, and grows his chilies, in relationship with farmers, in greenhouses around the Olympic peninsula. He smokes with Red Alder, and they come out red and smelling smoky sweet. Charlie also makes smoked alder salt!

Sale Alle Erbe delle Port Townsend

Makes 300g about 1 cup

Made from sea salt and fresh herbs, rosemary and sage, grown in Port Townsend and blended with local garlic. Black pepper is added to perfect the flavor. It adds a true Coastal Mediterranean character to any dish.

Ingredients

1 cup/200g coarse sea salt (I used a bulk Celtic salt, it’s moist with a gray green color and perfect for seasoning salts.)

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon/19g fine sea salt (I used bulk Redmond Real Salt)

½ cup (lightly packed)/10g fresh rosemary leaves, not stems

3 tablespoons/45g (about 6 to 8 large cloves) homemade garlic paste

2 tablespoons/3g chopped fresh garden sage leaves

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon/9g whole black peppercorns

Directions

1. Gather ingredients.

2. Using a spice grinder, grind the peppercorns with the fine sea salt.

3. Peel and chop the garlic and using a small food processor grind into a paste.

4. Measure and chop the herbs, grind together until fine in a small food processor.

5. Combine the coarse salt, fine salt and pepper, herbs and garlic paste and pulse until evenly combined. It will be moist.

Put into small jars. You can use the salt right away, but the flavors will meld and deepen with time. Use within six months. 

Chortle Seasoning Salt

Makes 1 cup

Easy

Chortle is somewhere between a snort and a chuckle, and this seasoning salt is perfect for popcorn and your favorite movie. It’s also great on eggs and roasted veggies.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

½ teaspoon  decorticated cardamom

½ teaspoon black peppercorns

1 tablespoon coriander seed

1 tablespoon cumin seed, toasted

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

¼ cup dehydrated onion flakes

¼ cup nutritional yeast

⅓ cup coarse sea salt

Directions

Toast the cumin.Using a spice or coffee grinder, grind all the spices together and then regrind a second time adding the salt. Store in a jar or tin in a cool, dry place. Seasoning salts are good for 6 months before they lose their potency. 

 

Camelot Seasoning Salt

Makes 1 ½ cups

Easy

Ingredients

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon white peppercorns

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon fennel seed

1 tablespoon coriander seed

2 tablespoons dried seaweed flakes

2 tablespoons garlic powder

¼ cup dehydrated onion flakes

¼ cup toasted hulled sesame seeds

¼ cup sumac powder  

⅓ cup coarse sea salt

Directions

Toast the sesame seeds. Using a spice or coffee grinder, grind all the spices and seeds together and then regrind a second time adding the salt. Store in a jar or tin in a cool, dry place. Seasoning salts are good for 6 months before they lose their potency.

 

Cameo Seasoning Salt

Makes 1 ¼ cups

Easy

This seasoning salt plays a cameo role — small but memorable. It’s perfect to add to a pot of soup, sprinkle on fresh tomatoes or rub with olive oil into roasted potatoes. 

Using a spice or coffee grinder, grind the spices together and then regrind a second time adding the salt. Store in a jar or tin in a cool, dry place. Seasoning salts are good for 6 months before they lose their potency.

Ingredients

1 ½ teaspoons red pepper flakes

2 dried bay leaves crumbled

¼ of a whole nutmeg, crushed

½ teaspoon black peppercorns

½ teaspoon whole allspice berries

½ teaspoon  decorticated cardamom

2 teaspoons anise seed

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon dried ginger root

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

2 tablespoons ground turmeric

2 tablespoons coriander seeds

3 tablespoons sweet paprika

¼ cup dehydrated onion flakes

⅓ cup coarse sea salt