DIY kitchen series: flavored salts

I am a huge fan of finishing salts - truthfully I love any unique salt. Salt can bring out the best in a dish, elevating the flavors to the next level. I have a home arsenal of salts - they have their own dedicated shelf in the spice cabinet. Gourmet salts can be a bit pricey, I thought it was about time that I start making my own. Not only are they super easy, making your own gourmet salts is economical and allows you to experiment with different flavor combos that are unique.

Welcome to number 2 in the DIY series: make your own flavored salts.

If you missed last week- check out the first in the series here!

The flavor combinations that I chose for my first DIY salt collection range from savory to sweet. The ingredients are ones that I have on hand at all time, so creating a batch of salt at a moments notice is easy, so lets get started!

Magic salt, brings out the best in every dish. Nooch (nutritional yeast), dried garlic, dried jalapeno, sweet paprika & celery seed are the ingredients found in Magic salt. This type of salt is fun to play around with- sub in sweet paprika for smoked, try a dried chipotle pepper instead of a jalapeno, try dried onion instead of garlic- you get the idea.

POW! Salt is the perfect salt to use with your sweets or as a cocktail rimmer. Made with coffee beans, ginger, cardamom & cinnamon - sure to be a winner when sprinkled over dark chocolate.

Citrus Herb is a classic salt- no pantry should be without it.

Smoked Matsutake & Saffron Salt is the elegant salt of the bunch - awesome in risottos, sprinkled over pasta with olive oil & garlic with a bit of crushed red pepper or as a simple olive oil dipper. Any dried mushroom can be used in place of the matsutake- porcini would be an amazing sub in.

Once you have made the salts, they can be stored in any airtight container - mason jars or any re purposed container would work well. I bought these little storage containers here - they would make the perfect Hostess or Holiday gift.

Flavored Salts

each recipe makes 1/3 cup of salt

you will need:

for the:

Smoked Matsutake Saffron Salt (or porcine)

1/3 cup sea salt

4-5 small pieces of dried mushroom

1/4 tsp liquid smoke

2 generous pinches of saffron

uses: risottos, olive oil dipper, pasta

for the:

Magic Salt

 1/4 tsp of each: Sweet paprika, nooch, celery seed, dried garlic

1 small dried jalapeno

uses: tofu scramble, veggies, butternut squash, root veggies, popcorn, french fries

for the:

Citrus Herb

1/4 tsp of each: rosemary, thyme, dried orange peel (powdered/optional)

1/2 tsp each: dried orange & lemon zest

uses: pan seared tofu, rice, quinoa, pasta, homemade crackers

for the:

Pow!

2 - 3 coffee beans

1/4 tsp each: cinnamon, cardamom, ginger

uses: on chocolate, peanut butter cups, desserts, cookies as a cocktail rimmer, sprinkled on vanilla ice cream

assembly:

Place all ingredients for the salt you are making into a food processor or blender (I used my 2 cup mini food processor) and blend/process until all ingredients are incorporated together - you want to avoid any larger pieces of one single item. The Citrus Herb took the least amount of time processing, the Smoked Matsutake Saffron took the longest.

Store in an airtight container and enjoy for years to come (if it lasts that long!)

Enjoy!

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