Fun with Seasonings

Ok, I must admit - I did these a little over a month ago, but I've not taken the time to write it all out, but I'm sitting down to share my attempts at making my own seasonings. I had seen it all over Pinterest so I had to try it :) I surfed the net and got lots of ideas.

First I made a rosemary salt and a mediterranean herb salt for party favors. They went with a jar of popcorn that said 'Thanks for Popping by'... call me cheesey but I thought they were just way too fun :)

Unfortunately we finished setting things up for the party and people started showing up early which resulted in no picture taking :( It was quite the cute set up but sadly I didn't have the camera and I totally spaced asking someone to take one for me. Thankfully one of my guests was willing to take a photo and send it to me so I could share it.

Since these were favors - I made lots, you could easily shrink the portions.

Rosemary Salt:
6   cups                    Kosher Salt
1   .75 ounce pkg     Rosemary

Pu the salt and rosemary together in a large pot and heat it on the stove over medium-low for about 10 minutes (until the rosemary started to dry out and changed colors and the salt is warmed through). Then remove the rosemary and allow the salt to cool in an airtight container.

When I packaged it, I took a small extra sprig of rosemary and had it on the clear side of the jar. It was just for decoration - no real need, but if you wanted to give them as gifts or fancy up your spice cabinet, you could too :)

Mediterranean Herb Salt:
5    cups          Kosher Salt
2    Tbl            Dried Basil
2    Tbl            Dried Marjoram
1.5 Tbl            Black Pepper Corns
3     tsp            Dried Rosemary
2     tsp            Dried Thyme

Grind the herbs and pepper corns until super fine (I used a coffee grinder, it's the best thing I have found for grinding spices). Mix ground spices into the salt. Warm this over medium-low on the stove for a few minutes until warmed through and allow it to cool in an airtight container.

Sadly since these were party favors - I didn't have any extra. I will need to make myself extra to cook with and enjoy.

Next up was finding something a little different that I wanted to give to my Dad with his grilling gifts for Father's Day - so I did a steak rub and a dragon salt. These were both mix together and bottle mixes, no warming on the stove - and I think they still came out just as good :) Granted they are different flavor combos. This time I had some left over since I had too much for the jars.

Steak Rub:
1/4   cup      Paprika
1      Tbl      Black Pepper Corns
1.5   Tbl      Chili Powder
1       tsp      Onion Powder
1       tsp      Mustard Seeds
1       tsp      Coriander
1       tsp      Garlic Powder

Grind coriander and mustard seeds in grinder until they're super fine. Add black pepper corns and grind until you have slightly coarse ground pepper. Then mix in with the rest of the spices and you've got yourself about a half cup of steak rub.

Dragon Salt:
1/4   cup    Sea Salt
1.5   Tbl    Black Pepper Corns
1      Tbl    Red Pepper Flakes
1      Tbl    Dried Dill Weed
1/4    tsp    Chili Powder
1/4    tsp    Cumin
1/2    Tbl   Dried Basil
1/2    Tbl   Celery Seeds

Grind red pepper flakes with black pepper, dill weed, basil, and celery seeds until they're a fine dust. Mix into rest of your spices and you've got yourself about a half cup of a very spicy salt mix.

I haven't grilled anything - however the dragon salt has been my go to spice when I've been feeling lazy. I made penne tossed with it and butter and topped with parmesan and added it to a chicken cheddar broccoli braid... and since I've waited so long to post this - it's also been used during my current gluten free challenge. I used it to seasoned my chicken to go on top of a salad and seasoned my roasted chickpeas with it (these will be explained in my next post tonight). So far - so good :) However, a word of caution - you don't need much so use it sparingly.