Small things- chopping garlic with sea salt and herbs

minced garlic with fennel seeds and sea salt being chopped for a pot of New England Clam Chowder

An easy way to give deep flavor to your dish is to chop garlic cloves, salt and herbs/seeds all together into a paste.  The addition of salt breaks down the garlic, allowing a paste consistency to be created by the edge of your knife. 

In the above photo a whole garlic head (6-8 cloves), 1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds and 1 teaspoon of smoked sea salt are chopped fine, then smashed with the knife edge making a powerful flavor combo. This mound of flavor was then put in a pot of New England Clam Chowder while simmering enriching its flavor profile.

Many different mixes can be made such as parsley/thyme salted garlic for fabulous red skin potatoes, basil salted garlic, minced then added to unsalted butter for garlic bread or maybe cumin seed salted garlic added to the chili.

What mix can you see yourself making?

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Botanicals and SDAJ

www.stephaniedistler.com