Your Own Gourmet Salt

Sea salt is one of the hottest food items right now. This gourmet specialty is everywhere, seasoning everything from popcorn to ice cream.Now there's a way to make your own.You can have your own. Version of fleur de sell orMalden's Surprisingly it's a simple procedure. it was the topic of an article in today's New YorkDaily News (I'm TheTimes Dining section a rest tonight)Making your own sea sal T is easy ,even if you have to use the waters right off of Manhattan.Take the seawater first thing in the water before the swimmers arriveRun the water through cheesecloth to eliminate any sand or gritThen put int o ashallow glass baking pan.You can dry it out in a low temp oven for days or outside for two or thee weeksOnce thieves are dry ,scrape from pan and store in an airtight container. Making your own salt. a shallow you to customize it.You can add lavender as some fancy French companies do. Try an apple wood one by adding soaked chips to the dryig process.There is also a recipe for lemon salt, popular with chefs in London right now.Thos requires both le,on juice and lemon zest added.Squueze over the drying salt and process in a warm sunny place like a window sill.SSpice up your salt with dill or Rosemary for something to add to salads.Drip some vanilla extract over the still. Wet salt for a dessert kind sea salt is hot right now.Customize your own with different flavors or just create a plain one.It's a neat way of having this trendy foodie item.