Citrus, Shiitake, and Parsley, Lemon and Garlic Salt #fij challenge

Shiitake, Citrus and Parsley Lemon Garlic Salt

It’s month two of our year-long food preservation Mastery Challenge. Our mission for February is salt preserving. The purposes of this challenge is to focus on dry brining or curing. When I first glanced through the calendar of preserving skills I thought this process would be fairly detailed, something similar to canning. Once again I was pleasantly surprised. The process is incredibly easy and the variations are endless. What I found was that salt is like a blank canvas, you can add any flavor you chose and it will make foods incredibly delicious. I made three different salts; a citrus, a shiitake, and a parsley lemon garlic.

Citrus Salt

The first salt I made was one with a mixture of orange, grapefruit and lemon zest. After zesting the citrus; I added equal amounts of salt, rubbed it all together with my fingertips and then let everything air-dry overnight on a parchment covered sheet pan for two days.

Shiitake Salt

The next was a shiitake salt; which was earthy and savory and boosted the umami flavor of meat and eggs. Here I ground up dried shiitakes using a coffee grinder and added equal amounts of salt.

Parsley, Lemon and Garlic Salt

My third and last was a combination of parsley, lemon, garlic and salt. I chopped up one medium bunch of parsley, two cloves of garlic, zest from five lemons and three tablespoons of salt. Then I let everything air-dry on a piece of parchment paper for two days.

Verdict, all three were fantastic and easy to make. I can see myself going hog wild making one salt after another. The citrus salt I used on veggies and popcorn. The shiitake on eggs, meat and popcorn and the parsley salt I used on a tuna pasta salad and eggs. Loved them all, they will add a burst of flavor to any dish. Also these little salts make wonderful hostess gifts.

Many thanks to our host Marisa of Food In Jars for her wonderful leadership.