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–+ servings
Dusky Desert Finishing Salt Recipe ingredients.

Dusky Desert Finishing Salt

This pungent blend is especially good on poultry but also adds interest to herbed goat cheese blends, roasted roots, and stuffing. You can also add it to olive oil and vinegar to create a flavorful salad dressing. Yet another way to enjoy this finishing salt is on sweet potato and black bean casseroles and burritos. The pungent flavor nicely accompanies the sweetness of winter squash—try it as a bright garnish on squash bisque.  
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Course Condiment
Yield 1.25 cups

Equipment

  • Baking sheet
  • Food processor or spice blender

Ingredients
  

  • ⅓ cup tightly packed rosemary leaves de-stemmed
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • ¼ cup of tightly packed whole sage leaves>
  • 15 juniper berries - Mashed with a mortar and pestle or the back of a knife, prior to blending.
  • 1 cup coarse salt - I used a mixture of pink Himalayan salt, black volcanic sea salt, and smoked sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Directions
 

  • Blend fresh herbs with coarse salt in a food processor or spice blender until fine. If you haven’t such an apparatus, mince your fresh herbs with an old-fashioned knife, and then blend with the salt. A good general proportion is an equal part fresh herb(s) to salt, by volume. For instance, if you are making a rosemary/thyme salt, add one cup of de-stemmed rosemary and thyme leaves to one cup of coarse sea salt. If your blend is heavy on herbs, and light on the salt, it might take a little longer to dry.
  • Spread the herb/salt mixture onto a serving tray or baking sheet and place in an area with good airflow. I like to place them on a table or counter under a ceiling fan. Depending on the ambient humidity, they may take two to four days to dry. The salt speeds up the drying process, simultaneously absorbing the flavor of the fresh herbs, along with the moisture.
  • If you need your salt blend right away, place it on a cookie sheet in the oven on the lowest setting with the oven door slightly ajar. Stir frequently and crumble up any clumps. Depending on the herbs used, it may take a few hours. Let cool and jar. This method will evaporate off some of the essential oils of the herbs, thus decreasing the aroma and flavor. Therefore, I prefer the slow drying method if you have the time.
  • If you are using dried herbs, you will skip the drying step, and use less of the herbs than a recipe calls for, as dried herbs are more concentrated than fresh.