Hello! As you all know, Miss B. has her hands full with sweet baby b., so I thought I’d lend a hand, and share this project with you. Tristan’s original vision for this month was to provide you with a bountiful collection of luxe homemade gift ideas (not your average D.I.Y., that’s for sure). This is one of those projects. It’s a gourmet gift that will be appreciated by culinary novices & afficionados alike (you’ll want to make extra for yourself too).
We are in the habit of sprinkling herbed sea salt on just about everything that comes out of our kitchen. Vignalta Salle Alle Erbe is what hooked us (sooo good, don’t say you haven’t been warned). Of course it was one of the first things I shared with Tristan when she moved to town, and she asked if we’d ever tried to make our own. Brilliant, the girl is brilliant! After a trip to the market for fresh herbs (a steal at $1 / bunch at Pike Place Market), the first test was under way. Two hours later we had custom blended herbed sea salt, worthy of gracing our soups, roasted vegetables, fish, meats – anything normally seasoned with salt & herbs. Best of all, it’s surprisingly easy and gift worthy!
//SUPPLIES//
Fresh Herbs
Coarse Salt
Garlic / Lemon Zest (optional)
Parchment Paper
Jars / Containers: (ideas) spice jars, hinged lid jars, Weck
Labels: See the label in the photo? You are welcome to use it for your gifts too! Download PDF.
//RECIPE//
Use a simple 2:1 ratio (2 parts herbs to 1 part salt).
Add a modest amount of garlic or lemon zest if you like.
Mince herbs & garlic / lemon zest in a small food processor. Add coarse salt. Blend to preferred consistency.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pour your mixture onto the parchment & spread into a thin layer. Bake at 225˚ for 1 hour, stirring once or twice during that time.
Let cool completely before pouring into glass containers.
There is plenty of room for creativity in this recipe. Choose your own blend of coarse salts – I mixed together sea salt, & Himalayan pink salt. Grey salt is a delicious option as well. For the herb mixture, I went with a combination of rosemary (heavy on the rosemary), sage, thyme, & garlic. If you decide to use a similar combination, you should know that it will make your home smell like you have been cooking all day, & may make you feel famished, even if you just ate (ahem). More seasoning ideas:
Herbes de Provence (thyme, savory, rosemary, marjoram, & sometimes fennel seeds & lavender).
Lemon Zest, Garlic, Black Pepper
Basil, Oregano, Garlic
Since we are drying the salt, it should keep for quite some time, but I would advise the recipient to use it up within a year. You can make this gift even more special by adding a salt cellar or small dish for easy salt access while cooking. This maple pinch bowl would look great next to the stove, I saw quite a few small dishes at World Market, or this may be the perfect excuse to purchase a petite Les Crueset cocotte for someone. If you would prefer to give 100% handmade, check out the Design*Sponge D.I.Y. salt cellars made from oyster shells and gold leaf, they are absolutely stunning!
Miss Michelle P. is a photographer, designer and co-professor for Souvenir Foto School. She lives in the Pacific Northwest. Her muse is light.
I’ve always wondered how to do this, but never got further than that. Thanks for the how-to!
Hi there,
thank you for the idea and lovely photos. I used to make my gourmet gift basket with homemade herbal salt like you made combined with some perfumded sugar (peel some organic clementine, dry the skin and blend it with some brown suger…) it’s delicious and you are sure to please everyone! :-)
And since I was too busy to come here recently, I wish this way all the best to Tristan and her new baby-girl! :-)
I hope you try it!
Michaela I LOVE your idea for the sugar, I am definitely going to try and thank you for the well wishes for me and baby!
Michaela, that sounds like such a delicious combination! I’m a sucker for sweet & savory. :)
Let us know if you give it a whirl!
Oh, this is absolutely beautiful, and I can imagine it being such a hit with so many people in my life! I plan on making this for some of them for Christmas!
michelle, what a beautiful simple gift idea … so many good smells !
would be perfect to have a bar of lavender sea salt soap on hand too ;-)
miss B, sending my belated congratulations on your little one !!!!!
Yay Erin! Don’t forget to keep some for yourself. ;)
Hi Karm! Aren’t herb scents the best? Lavender sea salt soap sounds divine!
A lovely Christmas gift!
What a perfect little gift. I just shared this idea on my blog. Thank you for the inspiration.
I’ve done bath salts and sugar, why in the WORLD did I not think of sea slot?! Love it!
Handmade gift items are available here. You can get your desired item from here. It is one of the best option for you.
Dear Michelle,
I really love your photograph of the herbs! I would like to use this photo to hang on my kitchen wall. Have you still got the high resolution photo and could I receive/ purchase one?
Kind regards!
What is the correct measurement of salt to use?
How lovely Anne! I’d be happy to produce a print for your kitchen. I will email you with details shortly!
m
Hello!
It all depends on how much herb salt you’d like to produce. For example, it took 1/3 cup of completed herb salt to fill the jar in the photo, so if I wanted to produce 3 jars of herb salt, I would use 1 cup salt then add 2 cups of herbs (once the herbs are dry, they don’t add much volume). Finding out how much salt it would take to fill 1 jar was as easy as filling the jar with salt, then dumping it into a glass measuring jar. I hope that helps!
beautiful photos! nice and clean :)
I have been looking for a recipe for sal de mer for Christmas gifts. What paper or adhesives did you print the labels on?
Hi Kelly,
I used a regular bright white office paper and double stick tape! I still have a few jars in the pantry & the labels look just as nice as the day they were made. Happy gift-giving!
Michelle
Thanks Michelle for the tips!
What kind of shelf life does this have? Thinking about making wedding favors with your recipe, but we wanted to decide how far ahead we could prep them!
What an excellent idea Julie Ann! You can definitely make this ahead of time. As long as the fresh ingredients are dried out completely, and the salt is stored in air tight containers, it should last for quite some time. Salt is a natural preservative after all. I’m still using the herb salt that I made in December (it’s September as I type this) and it still tastes fresh and delicious!
Can you use dried herbs?
Sure! If you use dry herbs you don’t need to bake!
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