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HOW TO: Make seasoned salt
Sometimes you have a riot of lavender chive blossoms whipping around in your garden like the pom-poms of possessed cheerleaders. And then, you make chive flower salt.
HOW TO: Make seasoned salt
Salt is so elemental in cooking, it needs no improvement. But sometimes you have a riot of lavender chive blossoms whipping around in your garden like the pom-poms of possessed cheerleaders. And then, you make chive flower salt.
To keep slender chive wands shooting all season long, snip each stalk at the base after it flowers. But don’t discard the blooms after you’ve chopped the garlicky greens for omelettes and roasted potatoes — there’s flavor in there, son! Mine were starting to wither and had to get cut today, and with no plans to cook, I used the tiny purple blossoms (and a new finely minced shoot) to season up some salt.
It’s a stupidly easy process — just take the chives, stir into a bowl of salt and store in an airtight container — but one that has major flavor payoff after the salt has absorbed the chives’ flavor. This happens in, like, a day, but will get even better after a week. Since salt's a natural preservative, it will draw out all of an herb's moisture and effectively embalm it, maintaining the color and shape of the buds. Sprinkle into salads or over pasta, or roll oiled potatoes in chive salt and bake them in foil packets for zest, crispy skin you actually want to eat.
Repeat this salt-seasoning process with anything: lemon zest, chopped truffle, cilantro, chilies. It also works with sugar. Try mixing super-fine sugar with lime zest and mint for a magic dust that elevates every piece of fruit it touches.
So simple, and yet I never thought to try this. Thanks for the tip!— JulieC- cool idea. I that being a good idea for fresh fennel seed or pollen.— rascal b. schuylkillian
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