herb salts

Back in early November, I made several herb salts. I looked up several recipes and found that these mixes can be either mostly herb with a bit of salt for flavoring or mostly salt with a bit of herb flavoring. At first I used a recipe for the former: mostly herb. That didn't seem the most useful for me, so I added salt.

My mixes ended up with about equal amounts of salt and herbs. I use them whenever I would be normally be adding plain salt to a recipe - and I get some extra flavor. I sprinkle the sage salt on cooked carrots, the thyme salt on broccoli, rosemary salts on scrambled eggs. Very nice.

To make the salts, I combined all ingredients listed below, processed in food processor til smooth, then spread on a sheet of the plastic mesh that came with my dehydrator with a sheet of parchment below and anther plastic mesh below those. I dried at low heat (110*F) in dehydrator for a few hours. When dry, I pushed the mix through the mesh onto the parchment and stored in plastic bags.

As I mentioned above, I added salt to get the flavor I preferred. I ended up with equal amounts of salt and herbs, 1:1 ratio. Many recipes call for a 1:4 ratio of salt to herbs.

Rosemary salt
Fresh rosemary
Lemon zest
Garlic cloves, crushed

Sage salt
Fresh sage leaves
Shallots, chopped
Dried chiles

Thyme salt
Fresh thyme, stems removed
Fresh oregano, stems removed
Lemon zest
Garlic cloves, crushed


I gave several of the salts away as Christmas gifts to my siblings. Now that I've posted this I can send a link and show them how I made them.

thyme harvest

I picked a big bowl of thyme the other day. My thyme patch has grown rampant in the past year and is overtaking the blueberry and bean space. I let the bunch dry about a week and now I am working on separating the dried leaves and stems. I'd like to have enough for my for winter use (and maybe for holiday gifts in pretty little jars.... I found some nice jars at Ikea....).

thyme for fall

On the first full day of fall, here are photos of my thyme. Gnome is doing a super job of tending it!!!

My mom gave me this variety from her garden. It's very winter hardy and has grown for years for her (northern MA). It encroaches on her lawn as a nice low mat, good for waking on, with pretty white blooms for the bees.



In my garden, I have to pick it often to keep it from overgrowing the young blueberry bush next to it. It sprawls past my fence and over the stone walkway. I grab handfuls for marinades, salads and garnishes. Thyme goes with everything!

Judy, my plot neighbor at the community garden, asked about thyme and I look forward to bringing her some. I'll also plant some in my plot. I wonder if it could be a ground cover for my paths? I'm imagining walking on it as I tend my vegetables. Ahh!

I also have another thymely story. (What's the symbol for a terrible pun?) We drove to upstate NY yesterday and stopped (in the middle of a much too long drive), at a rest area (McDonald's and all) to walk Skippy. In back lawn, they had the most beautiful patch of thyme. Of all places!! At least 50 by 50 ft. A low, dense thyme, very fragrant. It was in full bloom with deep beautiful purple flowers tended by honey bees. I have never seen deep purple blooms on thyme! I used one of Skippy's little waste bags and took a piece for my garden. I'm looking forward to another variety.

lots of thyme

I have a BEAUTIFUL patch of thyme - finally. For years I've tried one variety after another. I think this is one my mom gave me, though not really sure. It has survived a couple of winters now and is expanding. My gnome tends it. I can now harvest thyme with abandon. Ahh! I don't know anything that doesn't taste better with a bit of fresh thyme.

parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme

These are the herbs I picked from my garden this weekend. Really nice on our grilled winter squash and roast pork dinner.

overwintered rosemary

My rosemary plant has survived the winter outside! I forgot to bring it inside last fall. When the snow melted, I was surprised to see that its still looking good. Its growing in a corner of my cold frame, roots inside, but leaves outside of the frame. Maybe it survived since the soil that did not freeze. Or maybe the deep snow cover was protective. Or both.

thyme

I grew a lot of thyme last year. It did very well and hopefully will come back and do even better this year. But I planted more seeds any way. I'd love to have too much thyme. Is this possible?

potted rosemary

I bought four new rosemary plants this spring and planted them together in a big pot (at right). Four different varieties. I didn't realize rosemary came in different varieties. I have "BBQ", "Salem, "Prostrate" and an unnamed plant grown by Chef Jeff. I wonder if we'll detect any taste differences?

My three year old rosemary plant is getting woody (at left). I think this is just something that happens to older plants. Especially after spending a couple nasty New England winters indoors. Dry air, dark and gloomy - not really very pleasant.

Anyway, rosemary is definitely a spice to enjoy. We put it on grilled pizza, roast chicken, roast vegetables, scrambled eggs, etc. And potatoes - ah yes, fresh little red spring potatoes grilled with rosemary..... yum!

culinary herbs

thyme

I planted a variety called German Winter thyme just over a month ago, on Feb 21. I am really pleased with how well its growing.

Its is nicely aromatic already. The leaf undersides are deep red and the tops are silvery/blue. I was interested to see the pores in the macro photos, which I can't see with my eyes.

Thyme is such a versatile herb. It goes with every food, I think. And I love the inevitable (and thymely) puns.

borage volunteers

I love volunteer seedlings. My gnome is tending some borage and dill plants that self seeded from last year.

dill seeds

Time for seed collecting. I have some little plastic baggies I'm saving them in. So far I've collected: morning glories, watermelon, Capucijner peas, three types of beans, garlic cloves and several types of wildflowers seeds. I have a few rows of lettuce that are starting to bloom now and I'll see if I can find their seeds later.

S&P
culinary herbs

very fresh dill

One of my favorite potted plants this year is dill that I seeded in early June. I keep this pot by the grill. We pick off a bunch and put it on whatever we are grilling. Dill is awesome on grilled salmon and halibut. Also on chicken and vegetables. Its especially good with cedar plank cooking. And it can't get any fresher than this!

This dill variety is Dukat dill from Sand Hill Preservation Center. Its a shorter heirloom variety with dense foliage. It has a very nice flavor.

culinary herbs

drying coriander

I grew a nice row of cilantro this year, but didn't end up using much of it. It bloomed and the tiny white flowers did a great job of attracting small bees to the garden. I harvested it this weekend and now have a nice bunch drying in the garage. It smells wonderful every time I open the door. I'll collect and save the dried coriander seeds. They are delicious on grilled meats.

culinary herbs

borage blue

I don't think you can beat the beautiful blue color of borage.

culinary herbs

African blue basil

I put some blue basil in a pot near my kitchen door. Unlike sweet basil, the flowers of blue basil don't need to be pinched because the plant does not produce seed. The flavor is more clove-like, but it makes a nice garnish.

culinary herbs

rain on dill

We've had 2.7 inches of rain in the past week. Pretty wet. The gardens are soggy and muddy. But I think most of the vegetables have been enjoying it (with the exception of the basil). This photo is some dill, which looks really happy to me.

culinary herbs

late parsley

I've set up hoops and gardening fabric to cover my parsley on cold nights. I wonder how long I can keep using it this winter?

Cooked carrots with parsley

Daucus carota






I don't think I've ever grown enough carrots to really taste them. Last Tuesday, I pulled a big bunch and cooked enough to make five nice servings. They were delicious. Like a home grown tomato, a whole different flavor than store bought. I think I'll expand my carrot crop next year with some different varieties.