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Saturday, February 4, 2012

Aromatic Salt (sale aromatico)

You've gotta love having a little stash of tasty, aromatic salt hiding out in the fridge waiting to be pulled out at the last minute to add pizzazz to almost any savory dish.  You've also gotta love the word pizzazz.  Pizzazz!  Go ahead say it.  PIZZAZZ!  Fun, right?  Although once I've said it a certain number of times, it starts to come out sounding like something Gomer Pyle would say.  Pizzaayuhzz.  

But truly, if you whip up a batch of this when you have fifteen spare minutes, you'll be in for many future moments of pleasure.  Grilling a steak?  Sprinkle it with some of this aromatic salt as soon as you turn it.  Watch it melt into the warmth and smell the sweet fragrance of garlic and herbs with an undercurrent of bright lemon.  Sprinkle it on fish.  Season under the skin of a bird before you roast it.  Drizzle some new potatoes with olive oil and then give it a shower of this goodness before giving it a roast in the oven.  Toss it in hot, buttered broccoli or green beans.  Use it to flavor homemade cheese.  You name it, you'll want to include it.

You may feel a certain pull.  Something guiding you to the fridge.  And maybe you'll find yourself opening up the container holding your booty and then reaching in to take a little pinch.  Pungent, spicy, lemony, herby salt.  It's like that.
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Aromatic Salt

by Heather Schmitt-González
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: n/a
Keywords: condiment herbs salt

Ingredients (~6¾ oz.)
  • ~2 oz. thyme (or rosemary) sprigs
  • ~1¾ oz. sage sprigs
  • 2-4 small dried red chiles
  • 2 bay leaves
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled
  • ¼ oz. black peppercorns
  • 9 oz. salt (kosher, coarse or flake sea salt, or a mix)
Instructions
Pull the thyme (or rosemary) sprigs from the stems...or leave the thyme on the stems if they are soft. Pull the sage leaves from the stems. Place both in a food processor (I use a small one left over from when my babies were actually babies and I made baby food) along with the bay leaves, chiles, lemon zest, and garlic. Pulse-chop until everything is in tiny pieces.

Transfer to an airtight container with a lid. Grind the peppercorns and stir them into the mixture along with the salt. Mix thoroughly and keep in the refrigerator.

note:
If you like heat, add all of the dried chiles, seeds and all. If you aren't sure, start with two. Cut a slit in the side and shake out most of the seeds before adding to the processor. You can always grind up more if you decide you want it spicier.

adapted from Twelve by Tessa Kiros
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Would you like to comment?

  1. What a great thing to keep in the fridge.  I nearly recorded myself saying Shazayum Pizzaayuhzz. but good sense prevailed.

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  2. They look delicious..Bookmarked

    Aarthi
    http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/

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  3. They look delicious..Bookmarked

    Aarthi
    http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/

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  4. I never knew you could grind up bay leaves!  I've made all kinds of spice mixes, but never a seasoned salt.  A salt store actually opened up in our town recently.  All it sells is salt of all kinds, can you believe it?   This would be soooo good on top of focaccia.

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  5. ha! You almost made me lose my coffee.  I told ya... ;)

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  6. What a great idea for flavouring dishes. I never think of flavouring salt. I flavour sugar, but salt gets forgotten.

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  7. Love this salt look delicious!!

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  8. That salt sounds delicious and looks beautiful,Heather!Great flavors.

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  9. I love this! Cannot wait to find an spare 15 minutes to make some! ;) Great idea, really.

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  10. I've often seen aromatic salt blends in stores, but they were really expensive! Your blend sounds lovely, with a great balance of flavours. It's hard to think of anything it wouldn't taste nice with!

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  11. This looks  perfect for so many dishes...love the combination of flavors :) Maybe we'll grill steaks tomorrow....mmmmm.

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  12. Never thought of flavoring salt, what a great idea, thanks.

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  13. Your aromatic salt is similar very similar to our Salamoia Bolognese, but I like yours best, with that touch of red chilis and lemon.. 

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  14. I'll have to try that. Looks like it would be a great gift idea too.

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  15. This little jar just seems like the gift that keeps on giving! You think you're making great salt but then you end up making a gazillion great meals out of it!

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  16. As someone who really should be given a salt lick - I am enchanted with this. I would even use it on food.

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  17. Couscous & ConsciousnessFebruary 4, 2012 at 8:53 PM

    I love this idea - can't wait to try it.  One of my treasures is a big tin of paprika salt that I brought back from Greece - they lots of different spiced salts available, and I've been meaning to try making some of my own.  Thanks for the inspiration.  Pizzazz is a great word - but I think pizzaayuhzz sounds slightly more Paula Deen than Gomer Pyle.
    xo

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  18. Hmmm...is it too early to start thinking about Christmas gifts?

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  19. Hmmm...now that you say it, Paula Deen and Gomer Pyle sound a LOT alike.  I think they should have a "pizzaayuhzz off". ;P

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  20. Awesome packaging too!  We keep a variety kind of like this on hand too.

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  21. This flavored salt recipe look wonderful! Must try...

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  22. What a great idea! I love flavoured salts and yours is so deliciously bold. Wonderful!

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  23. I'm in love with the beauty of this salt.  It looks so pretty with all the little flecks of colors.  I'd have this used up in no time at all.

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  24. This is great! I adore aromatic salts and need to make a few new ones...love it!

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  25. I loves me some flavored salts. A friend gave me a truffle salt for my birthday and I think it would even make a stick taste good--I am loving it on everything. I don't know how I missed this recipe in the book but I am going to have to go back and try it. Yum! 

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  26. this has endless options, great way to perk up any meal!!

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  27. This looks winderful! I would love it on some baby red potatoes. And now you have me saying, pizzazz all silly like :) 

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