I've been sharing what's been happening in my kitchen on Instagram and Facebook. First a friend thought I should start tagging #whatshappeninginmerriskitchen, then another wanted me to start up a page. She wanted one place to see my adventures.
So, I'll give it a try. I'll post when I do things in my kitchen. Usually, given my schedule, that will be on the weekend.
Herb Salt
I like having fresh herbs all summer so generally have a couple of pots of mixed herbs on the deck. This year, the sage has gone crazy. I like sage on two main things, and I will never ever ever be able to use all that fresh sage. I dried a few sprigs, but really I don't need much of that either.
So, I Googled and visited Pinterest, and ended up doing a combo method from multiple sources.
I got everything ready. I decided on a mix of parsley, sage, and thyme. I used Kosher salt, iodine free. I threw in several cloves of garlic. I stripped the leaves from the herbs, about 3 cups worth. 1/2 cup of salt, and the garlic.
Everything went into a blender of sorts, and I ground everything up as much as I could. The mixture was spread on a parchment lined baking sheet, and went into a 170 degree oven (or the lowest you can go). I turned it off, and left it in the oven all week! Different sites had different suggestions for letting the mixture dry completely, including leaving it out on the counter all week. It's summer, and I'm not doing much in the oven, so I figured it might as well stay in there.
It was time to grind up the herb salt mixture some more. Don't skip this step. It really integrates the herbs and garlic with the salt. I used the parchment paper to form a paper funnel and put it in the mini blender, and ground it until no lumps remained. Then it was into the spice jars. Voila!
I suspect I will give away one of these jars to a friend. I can't see using this much sage herb salt! I'll try it on poultry and maybe pork chops. According to the interwebs, the salt should last about a year.
Labels: Seasoning and Marinades
