A Simple Recipe for Rosemary Salt

Rosemary is an extremely hardy perennial herb.  It originates from the Mediterranean where it has to stand up to harsh hot conditions and often tolerates drought.  However, it can happily survive our cooler climate and fits well into our style of sustainable growing as once established it requires little care.  We grown it in our forest garden

As well as having a range of documented medicinal uses with its essential oil being based on camphor, rosemary is of course an excellent culinary herb – think roast lamb, BBQ’s or even used as a herbal tea.  With much of growing in this country being so seasonal its really useful to have a plant which you can harvest at any time of the year and rosemary fits well into this category.  In fact by trimming the stems you are harvesting and carrying out your gardening maintenance all at once!

This recipe is an ideal way to make a little go a long way and it also produces a useful condiment that preserves the herb to use over a period of time.

Recipe

·        Take equal quantities by volume of rosemary leaves (strip the leaves from the stems) and Sea Salt crystals.  E.g. a cup of each or the quantity you require.

·        Blitz in a food processor until well blended (it will look like wet sand!).

·        Spread onto a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 120-130C for 1 to 2 hours until dried.  Alternatively a dehydrator can be used.

·        Once dried place into an attractive bottle or a salt pot ready for instant seasoning power.  Makes a great present too!!