Salt of the Shire

In addition to business planning for next year and lively discussions about SEO and beta testing a microphone for our Podcast program,Crazy Uncle Mike has been canning up a storm and started our new batch of Limoncello. Following his life mantra of not letting anything go to waste, we took the lemon detritus and made Marmellata di Limone; a citrus base for our Italian Margaritas; and new this year – Salt of the Shire.

The smell of grated lemon evokes a swirl of memories for me, right up there with thyme, parsley, and rosemary, all of which found their way into our herbed salt! The recipe for the salt can be found below.

As always, we all ended up in the kitchen… our happy place!

Salt of the Shire RECIPE

Ingredients
– 1 1/2 cup coarse kosher or sea salt
– about 2 cups loosely-packed, pungent fresh herbs such as parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme

Wash the herbs then pat dry with a clean dishtowel or paper towel. Leave herbs to dry 1 hour.
Prepare herbs by removing all stems and let sit to dry for an additional 2-3 hours.
In the work bowl of a food processor, combine the herbs and 1/2 cup of the salt. Pulse the herbs and continue pulsing until the mixture is the texture of very coarse sand. Transfer to a bowl and toss with the remaining salt till well mixed.
Spread out on a sheet pan and let dry for a day or overnight.
It’s the best salt in all the Shire – Love, from my kitchen to yours!