Sunday, December 5, 2010

Lime zest salt

I have been experimenting with flavored sugars for a short while, and I have to say that I have been really excited about the results. Orange and lemon sugars (see this post on making orange zest sugar) have been a great way to brighten up cream of wheat and add a splash of citrus to my tea. When a recent NGD co-op delivery brought us organic limes,  I just had to do some more experimenting.


Hubby asked about making a lime salt, and I was hit by the memory of my past addiction to lime flavored corn chips. Several years back, I was enamored with this tangy, salty snack, and even my MSG intolerance didn't completely kill my craving for them.  Although common sense trumped taste bud, I could still almost be tempted when I see these in the store, if it weren't for my larger addiction to oxygen. Mastering the lime salt could be my first step to ruling the world. . . or at least being able to duplicate another long lost snack in an all-natural form. ;)


lime zest (preferably finely grated and from organic limes)
1/3 cup kosher or sea salt per lime


Add lime zest to salt and process until well-mixed. I chose to make this first batch a fine grind.
The picture doesn't show the pale green color very well- the only dish that I had on hand that was dark enough to show the salt, is this blue dragonfly plate.




Allow salt to dry and then put into a clean dry jar. Besides thinking that this would be amazing on chips, it would also be a nice complement to fish or Mexican food. I am also planning to try this mixed with a pinch chili powder and sprinkled on popcorn. 


As with the sugars, other citrus zest could be mixed with the salt, especially lemon. I have seen a blend of orange, lemon, and lime for chicken and fish. If you want to try to make such a blend, I recommend making each kind of salt separately, allowing them to dry, choose the ratio of each flavor to add, and stir them together.

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